Shapeless Truths
by Shmeeko
Summary: You can't trust your friends. You can't trust Truth. It bears no solid shape of it's own and takes on the form of what or whom you trust in. How can you tell the difference between Truth and Lies? The answer is simple...
1. Bang Bang

**Meow First story in a while, folks. I'll try to actually finish this, and not make it go on for too long, 'cause that would suck )**

**If I'm not able to update like, every week. Don't hate on me, that's just how I am :) I'm very famous for not being able to finish stories, but I WILL finish this one. I promise. Anyway, this isn't going to make much sense, and It won't until like, halfway through it. Kay? So enjoy what you get foo's. Blarhar.**

**Disclaimer: Of course I do not OWN any of the mentioned characters in this chapter. And I really don't get the point of disclaimers, as we all know that if it's on FANfiction, the authors usually don't own the characters. It's common sense people. But yeah, just incase I get any whackjobs ranting to me. Blahblahblah Sega owns Sonic blahblahblah Not mine blahblahblah Okay, screw this. I'm gonna go get some pudding.**

Night's touch caressed the planet's every curve, casting away all light in its greedy hold. Barely a soul moved in the thick darkness, they were all safely tucked away under warm covers or staring in awe at the stars that littered the sky and danced bravely in the engulfing dark. Few were awake to witness this sight, but one particular being was watching the light show with an expressionless face, familiar to the night sky's ways.

Mobius was near silent, as it always was at this hour. I lifted my gaze upwards, shutting my eyes and breathing in the scents of the night. It had been a rainy day, but by now the clouds had rolled away and left nothing but sparkling grass and a fresh breeze. I enjoyed nights like this, they seemed to come less and less as the summer nights came to a halt. Soon the leaves would blow off the trees and snow would blanket the ground yet again. It wouldn't matter to me though; I would not leave this place. Not unless I had to.

I stood in order to prompt the feeling back into my legs, which had grown stiff from my motionless sit. I uncrossed my arms and held them out to stretch them. Perhaps a nice walk around the shrine would make me feel a little less cramped? The thought seemed inviting. I didn't need to be right up against the Master Emerald twenty-four seven, though.

I took a few slow steps down the stone staircase, giving my limbs time to warm up. As I stepped onto the soft dirt road at the bottom, I smiled. It was rare that the night was this captivating, it astonished me it had not yet been ruined. I took a few steady steps away from the shrine, feeling the refreshing breeze tug at my red fur.

"Chitty, Chitty! Bang, Bang!" I lifted my violet gaze, instantly alert and looking wildly about. The call sounded again, I clenched my fists and growled, still unable to place the location of the noisy intruder.

"I said, Chitty, Chitty, Bang...BANG!" at the last loud spoken 'Bang', I heard a loud shatter. I froze, spinning instantly in time to my life's purpose erupt into tiny shards. I gritted my teeth and sprinted up the stairs, coming upon the ruined remains of what had once been the great Master Emerald. A growl admitted from my throat. Those shards would be a pain to recover, and I would ensure the culprit at hand for this would pay.

"So, are you going to do anything?" The voice was directly behind me. I spun instinctively, raising my fist in a prepared response. I stopped myself however, for standing before me was a wild grinning blue hedgehog.

"Sonic?" I snarled, and launched my fist anyway. He leapt upwards quite suddenly, landing on my out thrown arm. I was able to hold up his weight, and I used this to my advantage. I twisted my wrist and grabbed his foot, and then hurling him down the steps the ground below. He twisted in mid-air, much like I had expected, and landed on his feet.

"Damn hedgehog" I muttered as I began my decent down the stairs, rather pissed off "I'm surprised he's not part cat." He waved to me as I stepped onto the grass. I was done with his games, I wanted answers. And I wanted them now. "What the hell was that for?" I asked darkly as I approached the blue hedgehog. He did not seem to take me seriously, and this would be a grave mistake.

"What the hell was what for?" he asked, shrugging childishly. He didn't seem to notice I had gotten so close to him, for he was too busy standing with that arrogant smirk on his faze, his eyes kept foolishly closed. I quickly reached for his neck, and I was somewhat surprised when I felt his windpipe in my grasp. I lifted him off the ground

"The Master Emerald." I said "You destroyed it, why?" I wasn't in the mood to beat the question around the bush.

"For fun, I guess. You're always so tied up by that thing anyway" he again, didn't seem to take this seriously "Besides, hot head, now you can go on one of your scavenger hunts to find them all again! And I know how much you love those." I snarled and spun around, slamming the hedgehog into the dirt.

"Well I'll tell you what I do enjoy" I said, brushing the dirt from my arms. "Beating up annoying hedgehogs that have nothing better to do with their time than destroy powerful gems." My remark only earned a grin from the blue speedster, this only infuriated me further. He launched himself at me in an attempt to tackle me. I was expecting a spin dash, or maybe something a little more tactical. I grabbed his wrists as he flew at me and flung him into the dirt. This time, I kept my grip tight on his left wrist and lifted him into the air. Something had caught my attention.

His white glove had come loose as he'd been hurled, and I could now see deep black marks on his wrist, they looked like cuts but…that wasn't like Sonic. I was about to challenge him about it, but as I turned to look him in the eyes, my stare was met with a miss-matched blue and yellow gaze. Without being able to fully question his sudden change in eye colour, there was a sharp pain to the back of my head. My gaze began to get blurry and clouded. Slowly, my vision receded as a thick blackness moved to take over my vision.


	2. Boyish Charm

**Haha! Another Chapter! I feel happiness coming on. Go Shmee! YOU WILL FINISH THIS STORY. I NEED MOTIVATION D Time to continue Self-movitating!**

**While I do that, you read and review. Tell me if you like it, because if no one reveiws, I'm gonna stop posting, and that would be bad. So yeah. Read, review, Enjoy. :P**

**Tata folks :)**

* * *

Sonic the Hedgehog

I yawned, bringing a hand up to scratch at my quills roughly, closing my eyes and smiling up at the sun. Seeing how rainy yesterday had been it was nice to finally be able to see the sun. I sat up straight, my eyes opening to look off the slab of concrete that made up the current floor, which dropped out into clear blue sky. Emerald city was a busy place, I knew that, but boy, their skyscrapers made great hiding spots.

I was sitting on top of one of the tallest buildings in the city, an office building with several floors of apartments at the top. I was almost certain I wouldn't be disturbed up here, not many people dared to come up this high. But I loved the view, and the sun warming my fur felt brilliant. I stood up and stretched, instantly feeling a strong breeze attempt to push me back down, but I stood firm.

I walked calmly to the edge of the building, looking down at the streets below. The people looked like tiny ants from where I stood, it was kind of cool. I was certain Amy wouldn't look for me up here. I had troubles sleeping last night; I kept being awoken by nightmares. It was great that I was able to grab a cat nap in the warmth of the sun. I felt loads better, I also felt as if I could put up with a determined hedgehog's fan girlishness. Well, for today at the very least

I stepped over the edge confidently, falling down. I cheered, feeling alive with adrenalin as the ground rushed up to greet me. My feet hit the wall solidly, and I began to run, increasing my speed as I shot down the side of the building, but at least I wouldn't be turned into a blue puddle when I hit the ground.

When I did hit the ground, I barely slowed, and shot off the side of the building and down the center of the road, some humans in their cars stuck their heads out their windows and honked as I zipped by and others cheered and waved. I would've waved back, but I really don't think they'd notice at the speed I was going. I kept running, enjoying the rush of the wind through my quills, laughing at the funny shapes the buildings formed as I zipped by.

"Soooonniiiicc!" the girlish scream made my ears twitch and I couldn't help but to grin. I skidded to a halt and turned around, not surprised to see my self-appointed stalker running to catch up with me. I had to admit, I was impressed. She'd certainly gotten faster then when we'd first met, but I guess that would be expected, seeing how often she chased after me. "Sonic, Hi!" she said as she neared me. She smiled widely and waved. I waved back and allowed her to catch up.

"Hey Amy, What's up?" as she came up beside me, I turned and started walking. I didn't like staying still for too long, and Amy didn't seem to mind walking after that run. She folded her hands behind her back and skipped in front of me, turning around to walk backwards.

"Not much Sonic, I just noticed you were in a bad mood before, I saw you running down the building before, are you feeling better?"

"Yeah, I'm doing much better, thanks!" I smiled at her, and she returned my beam with one of her own.

"I figured you wouldn't want to be bothered, so I left you alone."

"You knew I was up there?"

"Of course, Silly! That's not the first time you've used that hiding spot. Besides, I think I'm finally starting to figure out when I've crossed the line" I smiled gratefully at her, not only for leaving me alone, but accepting that I would always need time to myself now and again.

"Thanks, Ames" She waved her hand and huffed, signaling that it was nothing to her. I was kind of glad she was being this agreeable. Or maybe it was me being agreeable? Or both, probably…Yeah, I'll settle for both.

"Oh, Knuckles was looking for you" She said, her smile vanishing as the words left her mouth. Knuckles arrival wasn't usually good news, but it rarely made the upbeat hedgehog frown.

"Really? What did he want?" She shrugged at my question and turned around so she walked normally once again.

"He didn't say, but it can't be good"

"What do you mean?" She frowned at me again.

"He came up to me and yelled out of the blue" She paused, lowering her voice and making it sound raspier, imitating our red-head echidna. "AMY! Where the hell is Sonic!? I'm going to make him wish he'd never been born!'" As serious as the threat sounded, I couldn't help but to chuckle at Amy's attempt to mimic Knuckles' voice.

"What did you tell him?" I asked, taking a sharp left towards the local park.

"I told him I hadn't seen you all day, and when I asked what was wrong, he punched the wall of the café I was sitting outside of and stormed off. He seemed pretty pissed off" As we stepped onto the gravel path that wound around the large field that made up the neighborhood park. I shrugged my shoulders. This wasn't the first time Knuckles had randomly started to hate me overnight, I'm sure it was for some silly reason or another; we'd get over it eventually.

"Oh well, I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually" I looked towards the pink hedgehog, who was beaming confidently back at me. "So, Ames, What do you want to do for your birthday?" I flashed a trademark grin at her, pleased to see her green eyes light up cheerfully

"You remembered?!" She didn't seem to believe me.

"Yup, one week tomorrow, right?"

"Uh-huh. I didn't think you would care!" I waved my hand, sticking out my tongue.

"I wouldn't forget one of my friend's B-days, Ames." I stopped, casting my gaze out over the field "What would you like for your birthday?" I repeated my question. She skipped out onto the grass and spun, still lost in her gleeful cheer. It surprised me that she didn't think I'd remember she'd be turning fourteen. When she finally stopped spinning, she seemed a little tipsy.

She almost lost her balance as she walked back over to me, giggling as she stumbled.

"Nothing big, Sonic" she said, stopping a decent ways in front of me. She folded her hands in front of her and rocked on her feet. She bit her lip and gave me a funny stare. Instinct told me exactly what she wanted, and a sighed; making it sound forced. I took a few steps forward, to stand in front of her. I got down on one knee and took her hand, grinning widely

"Amy, will you marry me?" I watched as she froze, the smile on her face replaced with a look of shock. Her jaw dropped, her arms fell limply at her sides, though I kept my hold on her right hand

"Why ye-"

"KIDDING!" I yelled, cutting her off, my grin growing. I swept her up in my arms, despite her angry huff. I started to run across the field, towards the forest on the other side.

"Not funny" she said, sounding exactly as she said; un-amused. I grinned and slowed as we neared the forest line, skidding to a halt and setting her down on the grass.

"Yeah, you're right Ames." I admitted "But hey, while I'm not about to walk you down the aisle" Her face fell, but I kept on anyway "What say you and I clear our schedules for that day? We'll go out for dinner and shop or something – whatever you want" Her face instantly re-lit with that giddy smile. She jumped at me, wrapping her arms around my neck. She nearly knocked me over with the force of the hug, but this time I put up with it.

"That would be great, Sonic!" she let go of me, her face red with excitement, she could barely keep still. Well, I'd made one person's day so far. She squealed loudly, unable to contain her feeling of happiness, I covered my ears as she did, but smiled sheepishly.

"SONIC!" An Angry call interrupted Amy's cheering; we both spun and peered out into the field. A red figure was quickly making its way across the greenery towards us. I only knew one person with such red fur, and one person with that short a temper.

"Oh, Hey Knuckles!" I called to him, waving. This only seemed to infuriate him further, he sped over to me, but I remained calmly in place. I was not expecting the fist that he launched at me, grabbing onto my neck tightly "Urk- Heey" I wheezed "Loosen up buddy…You're choking me" I shut one eye and tightened the muscles in my neck.

"That's the plan, jackass." He whirled me about, and I felt myself being slammed with great force into the dirt. Moments later, a sharp pain exploded in my side, and I went flying. I heard a concerned cry from Amy

"Knuckles, what are you doing?"

"Get away Amy, stay out of this!" I pushed myself to my knees, coughing slightly as I became familiar with the ability to breathe again. I looked up, once again seeing Amy's back, her arms spread wide. This seemed vaguely familiar to me, but I was a little too preoccupied to think of where this had happened before.

"No, YOU stay away from Sonic. You're better than this, Knuckles! You could at least tell him WHY you're attacking him!" She said fiercely, earning a growl from the echidna. He opened his mouth, most likely to yell at her, but by now I'd pushed myself to my feet and asserted myself between the two.

"That would be nice, why the hell are you attacking me? What have I ever done to- Oh wait, don't answer that" I said, pretty sure he could come up with plenty of times we hadn't always agreed "Instead, tell me what's the reason for attacking me this time!?" The echidna's fists clenched and he took a step towards me, so we were face to face, glaring each other down.

"Don't play dumb, Sonic." He snarled "You and I both know what you did!" I grinned at him

"Can you refresh my memory, please?"

"Last night, you destroyed the Master Emerald and attacked me!" I had to admit, this startled me. No, no. I was pretty sure I was having issues sleeping last night, due to nightmares I couldn't quite recall when I awoke. I shook my head and repeated my thoughts

"Uh no, Maybe you had some other strikingly handsome hedgehog attack you? I'm pretty sure my lack of sleep made destroying a giant emerald a pretty hard task" I remarked, still shaking my head slowly. I ducked to avoid the fist that flew at my face.

"Do not lie!" He snarled "I know it was you!" I jumped back to avoid the second fist to come flying at me. It was at times like this where Knuckles' thirst for battle kind of ticked me off. I skipped backwards slightly, making sure I was well out of the way of Knuckles' fists. Amy had wisely backed off to the side, somewhere in between the two of us.

"Dude, I don't really know what I'm lying about. You know I wouldn't destroy the Master Emerald, you practically live for that thing!" This remark only caused the echidna to charge forward, launching fist after fist at me. Of course, while one of the crimson being's punches could easily shatter bones, he and I both knew he couldn't keep up with me. I simply kept moving out of the way of his flying fists, but each time I did, it only pissed him off further.

"Stand still and accept the punishment for your crime!" He snarled. I couldn't help but to roll my eyes

"Okay Knuckles, this has got to stop." I hit the dirt, kicking my legs out and knocking the startled echidna off his feet. I instantly jumped on him, standing over him and well prepared for another strike "Now, tell me what…I…Did again?"

"Last night, someone came out of nowhere and shattered the Master Emerald." The echidna had calmed slightly, but was glaring up at me still. I kept my attitude in line and simply grinned.

"Really? Why didn't you catch this person?" I knew he wouldn't like that question, and I could tell by the fist that swung up at my face. I leant back to avoid it as he went on

"It was you, Sonic. You said you destroyed it for fun. I would've beaten you six ways from Sunday, but you did something to me to knock me out cold. When I woke up, you were gone." Knuckles suddenly reached up and grabbed my throat, pulling me close to him and snarling at my face, before he pushed me off of him and stood. I stumbled on the ground after being launched away, but my tongue worked just fine

"Uh... That wasn't me, Knucklehead" His eyes narrowed "Like I said; I had issues of my own." He didn't seem to be listening, for he threw himself at me again. "Come on Knux, this is getting annoying." I grabbed his fist and pulled him towards me. At the same time, I darted aside and stuck my foot out. This caused the echidna to fall flat on his face. He caught himself, but I didn't let him get back up. I crossed my arms in front of me and sat down on his back, forcing him back into the dirt with a huff. Amy now wondered back over to where my newly found red chair and I were having an enlightening conversation

"Ungghhh." Knuckles growled through his face full of dirt.

"Ungghhh" I repeated his speech, grinning. This only seemed to anger him further, which by now did not scare me in the least.

"Unnnnghhh!"

"Unnnnghhh!"

"URGNAAAHH"

"Say what?"

"Sonic, stop it!" Amy put her hands on her hips and frowned at me. I could only shrug and chuckle slightly; at least I had been amused by our little game. Knuckles began to twitch underneath me, jerking violently every few seconds. I hopped onto my feet and jumped away as he pushed himself to his feet, still jerking violently

"Hey, Knuckles, are you okay?" I asked, walking up to him. He spun and growled at me, his fists clenched. It was then that I came to the conclusion that he was still pissed. But instead of attacking me like I expected him to, he whirled and began to sprint across the field, his head in his hands. Amy and I only watched as he fled

"Well, that was strange" Amy finally broke the silence that had fallen over us after watching the echidna's behavior. I nodded in agreement, noting the pink hedgehog was now off guard. Hurrah, time to use more of my boyish charms!

"Never mind him!" I said, turning and sweeping Amy up in my arms again. I didn't even wait for a reply as I sped off in the opposite direction. Amy wrapped her arms around my neck and held on tightly as I picked up speed "Let's go someplace fun!"


	3. My Little Shadow

**Whoosh! Hi again! It's me. Shmeeeeee. Than you for reveiwing, Sonicliveson, I'm glad you like what you read. Beleive me, there's a whole bunch o' twists in this .. One of them is WAITING FOR YOU BELOWW. Go read now, stop listening to me babble and gogogo! Read.**

**Yes, Sonic team does not belong to me, but someone in this story does. Go find him. Feel happy. He's the antagonist. )**

**Toodles**

* * *

**Shadow the Hedgehog**

My ears flicked upon the angry voices that reached them. I slowly walked to the edge of the four story building I overlooked the city from. As I stood on the concrete edge and peered out to the field that the building overlooked in particular. My eyes automatically narrowed at the sight that greeted them. A red figure was dashing across the green field in great haste. There was an annoying beep that continuously sounded from my wrist, but I ignored it.

I pushed off the ledge and jumped onto the roof of a neighboring building, running at an easy speed along it before launching myself off the roof and onto the next. I neared the red being's path. I did not plan to intercept, though. The red being was exactly who I'd thought it was, Knuckles the Echidna. His gloved hands were covering his head as he ran down the abandoned street.

My interest was growing at his strange behavior. It was odd to see the echidna run, in fear more so. Without hesitation, I changed direction so I ran along the rooftops a few meters behind him, parallel with his path. I kept my gaze solidly on the red mass as it moved at surprising speeds through the street. Keeping up with him was not a problem, but he was moving much faster than I was aware he could.

I leapt off the building, refusing to allow my speed to slow. I jumped clear across the street, keeping my crimson gaze fixed on the echidna as he ran. But I had miss-positioned where I would land, and overshot significantly. I landed awkwardly, nearly falling forwards and off the other end of the short building. The echidna had left my sights. I growled and whirled, dashing back to the edge to see if I could pinpoint his position once again. He had vanished.

I quietly cursed my foolishness, folding my arms in front of me as I stood on the ledge, scanning the ground for any sign of the red fur. My searches proved futile, but I did not let that bother me too much. Something was amiss with the Echidna, and I had a hunch as to what. I turned, lifting my wrist to finally address the occasional beep it omitted.

"Rouge." I said icily, keeping my tone level.

"Hey Shadow, took you long enough!" The bat's voice rang all too cheerfully from the communicator implanted on my wrist. "I was just calling in to keep you in the loop." My ear flicked, I lowered my wrist and allowed her to speak as I slowly walked along the roof edge "Apparently, Sonic destroyed the Master Emerald yesterday evening" Her voice was laced with a smug interest. I shrugged it off, however and kept walking.

"And Knuckles is aware?"

"Come on, Shadow. I know you saw him!" Once again, her methods of knowing what I had been doing left my speechless. I narrowed my eyes as she continued "I also know that you think something's up. Care to share?" Her voice cooed as if she expected that tone to work on me. I scoffed.

"So, you saw him too?" I stopped, closing the link that kept our chat alive. I felt no need to continue this chat over some worthless piece of technology. I turned to look out over the city, lifting my gaze to catch the white bat in my sights. Upon noting that I had sighted her, she fluttered down and landed beside me, sitting on the ledge. She crossed one leg over the other and folded her arms in front of her.

"He's kind of hard to miss, what with his bright red coat and all" she said, waving a hand passively. He lifted his blue gaze to me. I did not meet it. I lowered my head somewhat

"How are you with G.U.N.'s computer systems?" I asked, aware that a smile had appeared on her muzzle. She shrugged, closing her eyes and leaning back.

"What are you suggesting?" she said, pushing off the building in order to fly in front of me, forcing me to look at her. I fixed my piercing red gaze on the bat, un-amused.

"Are you able to hack the system?"

"Am I able? Of course I'm able, but why?" She looked at me mischievously, and I moved my gaze down to the streets below us. I turned and began to run across the rooftop, leaping to the next. She kept pace in the air beside me. She swooped low enough so she could speak to me. "Something on your mind?"

"I will explain once we are clear of the city" With that, I sharply changed directions and bolted full speed towards the city border, the white bat following high in the air at the fastest speed she could manage. Humans looked up as I sped across the rooftops, leaping from building to building. Some waved at me and called out loudly

"Yeah! Go Sonic!" Oh, I await the day when humanity is finally able to tell the difference from the childish blue hedgehog and myself. Their foolishness did not amuse me in the least. I leapt off the last building and onto an abandoned dirt road that lead out of the city and into the forest that surrounded it. I wasted no time in following it, still irked by the humans' nature. I was aware of Rouge still following above the canopy of trees.

_You forgive humanity this folly then?_ I screeched to a halt, a sudden pain arched through my skull. I blocked my eyes from the sunlight, which now seemed painfully bright. I ducked into the comforting shade of a tree, using it's trunk for added support as I held my head with my hands.

I remembered everything. I was well aware that I was not supposed to, but I did despite that. I knew of no other who did remember those events, and I'd been searching for the reason as to why. His voice continued to ring in my head like sharp blows to my skull. I shut my eyes, everything seemed so loud.

"Shadow?" the call seemed faraway and un-recognizable, I ignored it. The pain continued, growing sharper. I could still hear his voice, laden with contempt and wickedness.

_Soon, my little Shadow…Soon._

"Shadow!" I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I was jerked roughly. The pain vanished almost instantly and my eyes snapped open. I'd fallen to my knees, and was now looking up at a rather concerned bat "Are you alright?" I pushed her hand from my shoulder and stood,

"I'm fine" I replied, "Let's move" with that, I continued to speed down the old road, leaving the bat to her suspicions. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her take her place in the sky once again, falling behind significantly. I did not wait for her to catch up; she knew where I was going.

I placed a hand to my head, half expecting the voice and the pain to return, but to no avail. Leaves swirled away from me as I turned sharply, leaving the dirt path behind. I dashed into the forest, weaving expertly around the trees. My destination was dead ahead, several kilometers. I was aware that at the speed I was traveling, it would take me no more than a few minutes.

* * *

**Who is it? We will never know**

Pain was all I could feel, first in the back of my head which spiraled down my spine and seeming to branch off into every nerve. Such pain willed me to go back to sleep, keep my eyes shut and shut out the pain, but my nature would not allow it. My eyes opened slowly, only to come face to face with the mismatched gaze once again.

"Wakey Wakey, Shake 'n Bakey!" The eyes blinked and suddenly moved backwards. I opened my eyes further in order to see the person they belonged to. It suddenly became apparent to me that the owner of the blue and yellow gaze was about as confusing as his eyes. At first, one might consider him a porcupine, for his head was lined with sharp, thin quills. But upon closer observation, it would seem he was something else entirely.

His fur was a deep shade of red, darkened and faded to black towards his hands. Around his eyes were brownish rings, and led almost up to his unnaturally large ears, his left ear torn off completely. His remaining ear had a tuft of black fur sticking out from the tip.

Dark lines were drawn down his cheeks, standing out against his peach muzzle. He wore a simply pair of black boots, an intriguing pattern of oddly shaped spots starting from his knees down, but his most drawing feature was his tail. It was long and thick, seemingly strong and seemingly lethal. Attached naturally to the end of the creature's tail was a thick, moon-shaped blade that curved wickedly, lined with jutting edges. He was not only a confusing sight, but an intimidating one. His wild grin unnerved me some

"Oh great! You're awake!" he said as he stretched his hands above his head. "Well, I guess it's not too great, 'cause now I have to knock you out again!" He said, skipping up to look me in the eyes. I felt myself once again rendered speechless by his strange stare. "You're such a chatterbox"

"What are….Where are…Who are you?" My words came out slowly, and I noted how much it hurt to talk. The creature stepped back and held his hands behind his back.

"You're in an underground base-thing that happened to be abandoned, so I decided to use it. And I don't really have a name, but you can call me Truth" He skipped forward, once again bringing us eye-to-eye "Truth the thingamahoosit!" He chuckled and cart wheeled backwards.

"…Why…Why am I here?" He skipped forward once again, placing his hand over my mouth

"Shhhh. It's a secret!" He said, narrowing his eyes. A loud bang sounded from above, his right ear perked and he lifted his head, glaring at the ceiling. "I'll tell you…Later!" He said while backing up towards the darkness which my eyes could not penetrate. "Right now, I have stuff to do. But don't worry, I'll be back" he said as he spun and vanished into the dark shapes cast by what little light shone from above. "And I'll bring friendssssss.


	4. Paranoia

**Phwoar. I got bored so I did another chapter tonight. I can actually feel the plot line coming up :D We're working up to the climax, folks :O ANTICIPATE WITH ME.**

**Thank yew Sonicliveson :D It would be awesome to get more readers. SHARE ZE STOREH WITH TEH WORLD. And I'm glad you like it so much, I didn't think anyone would. :P**

**Anyway. I'll continue writing, you continue reading. Deal? Deal. Flies off to word**

**Toodles**

* * *

Sonic the Hedgehog

I sighed as I opened the door to a quiet house. This neighborhood was so quiet, people barely associated with one another here. It kind of bothered me, being so friendly

"Tails?" I called softly, wondering if the young kitsune was awake. I kicked off my shoes and slowly proceeded up the stairs. I passed the fox's room, hearing soft snores. So he'd fallen asleep, I wasn't surprised. It was quarter to midnight. Amy and I had parted hours ago, but I felt like running through the city, and had done it longer than I had presumed.

I walked into my makeshift 'room.' It wasn't exactly mine, but I used it whenever I needed a place to stay for the night. Tails was used to me randomly showing up there. It didn't seem to bother him at all. I sat on the bed and pulled off my socks, yawning widely and shutting my eyes for a moment.

I pulled away the covers and clambered blindly into bed, pulling the blankets up to my neck and snuggling into the mattress. It had been a while since I'd slept in a bed; it felt kind of nice to be sleeping on something so soft.

I lay in silence and listened to the sounds of the outside world, the wind whistling by the trees, the occasional owl that hooted into the darkness, the rustling of leaves as they scuttled across the ground…I sighed happily.

A disrupting thump made me jump from my drowsy state.

"Aw shoot!" was the sharp curse, the voice hushed. I threw off my covers and put my feet solidly on the floor. I walked cautiously to the window, peering through the glass. My makeshift bedroom was located next to another house, so the view from my window was nothing more than a hedge fence, a sliver of road and the wall of the house next to Tails'. I peered down, squinting as I noted the shadows shift under the hedge.

I opened the window as silently as I could manage, leaning out it to get a better view. I had to admit, I was shocked when a red figure stepped from the shadows and grabbed onto the wall, reaching up with his other hand and doing the same thing.

"Knuckles?" I breathed quietly, as not to alert the echidna as he began to scale the wall slowly. I stepped away from the window as he turned to look through it. I heard the rush of wind and a muffled thump as the echidna's bulk hit the wall just below my window. Well, this was strange. I dashed at my bed, hitting the floor and silently sliding under my bed. What the hell was Knuckles doing here?

There was a soft grunt as Knuckles climbed through the open window; I saw his shoes tap against the hardwood floor as he stood. He slowly walked towards the bed, seemingly unaware that I was pressed underneath it. He seemed to be attempting to remain silent, and was doing a pretty bang-up job. I held my breath as he got closer, planning to jump out and surprise him. Instead, I was the one who was surprised.

There was an odd metallic sound and a muffled thump. Something poked sharply into my back. I twisted slightly to see what it was. With the dim light form the moon shining across the floor and under the bed, I could just faintly see the tip of a pointed and blood-stained dagger.

_Knuckles is trying to kill me?_ I thought, breathing out slowly as not to alert him. I heard him curse quietly, and two pillows hit the floor as he threw them off of the bed. Next to drop were the blankets, which landed in front of me and blocked my view of his feet.

"Where the hell is he?" I heard him growl as loud tearing noises sounded above me. I could tell he was tearing the mattress apart in his fury. I almost yelped in surprise when I heard his feet slam solidly into the ground behind me. I twisted around in silence to watch his feet as he moved over to the door, opened it, and stormed out.

I quickly scrambled out from under the bed, looking on in horror at the torn mattress, one deep stab mark where he initially had struck, hoping to have stabbed me instead of fluff. I had no time to worry about that now, there was a bigger problem. Knuckles was a crazed bastard murderer, and he was heading towards Tails' room. I leapt clear over the bed and speed out into the hall through the open door

"Knuckles!" I yelled as I burst into Tails' room. The orange kitsune sat upright quite suddenly

"Sonic?!" he cried, sounding alarmed as he looked around wildly. I flicked on the light, confused to see nothing out of the ordinary in the kitsune's room. My jaw dropped as he spoke again, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "Sonic, what's the matter?" He yawned and looked at me with wide, inquiring eyes. I closed my mouth and quickly strode across the room, wrenching open the fox's closet, upon not seeing my target; I whizzed across the room and hit my knees, checking under his bed.

"Wait here, don't move" I told him sternly. The little fox nodded and pulled the blankets up to his chin. I zipped out of his room, closing the door behind me.

In a matter of minutes, I had searched the entire house. My heart was racing almost as fast as my feet moved. I re-entered the fox's room slowly, and he peeked out from under the covers.

"Sonic, please tell me what's going on." He sounded scared. I opened my mouth to explain, but closed it after thinking for a second. I wanted the fox to sleep tonight, and I didn't want to worry him unless I had to.

"Nothing, I thought maybe an animal had gotten in, but I think it was just a bad dream" at this, the fox furrowed his eyebrows and huffed at me

"Turn the light out!" he said, and I obediently swiped my hand along the wall and shut out the light above. "Sonic, it was just a nightmare; just because it scares you, doesn't mean it's real." He told me sternly. I couldn't help but to smile at the fact that the young fox was lecturing me about nightmares "Now go back to bed and try to get some sleep, and remember. It's not real!" With that, he rolled over and pulled the covers up to his ears.

"Sorry little bro." I said as I turned and quietly left his room, shutting the door behind me. I looked down the hall and entered my own room. I knew Knuckles had been here, it was quite clear to see the deep cuts in the mattress. But I had to accept that he was gone now. I didn't want to concern Tails in this, scaring him wouldn't help anything. So I set to work.

Ten minutes later, I'd managed to pull the shredded mattress and sheets down the street and onto a neighbor's trash heap. I'd replaced the mattress with a spare one I'd found under the stairs in the basement. My bed looked as if nothing had gone wrong at all, and I was satisfied at that. I crawled back into bed and pulled the covers over me again, curling into a makeshift ball. I shut my eyes slowly, sighing as I forced myself to relax.

Knuckles lunged at me, a long, curved dagger held high. My eyes bolted open. Oh great. Now I really was going to have nightmares. I threw off my covers and wondered into the hall. I sat in front of Tails' closed door, leaning against it silently as not to wake him up.

I was too paranoid to go back to sleep. I didn't want him to come back and try to kill anyone in this house, not me, not Tails. I crossed my legs and sighed again. I would not sleep tonight, and I probably wouldn't until I found Knuckles. I kept my eyes open, despite my growing fatigue, and stared ahead into the darkness. A dim light shone from down the hall, the nightlight Tails put there to stop anyone from walking into anything should they get up at night. That light would be my only friend for the next eight hours.

"It's going to be a long night"


	5. Trust

**Baha, thanks for reveiwing you lot. :) I'm glad you like the story. **

**This chapter is just building up to the next...one...two...Three chapters! In which the problem is more clearly stated. So y'know, enjoy the mysterious entries, see if you can peice together what's going on. I'd love to hear your guesses, but I won't tell ya if yer right!**

**Sonicliveson: Your support is greatly appreciated! :D I'm glad you like this story as much as I do. Teehee, a majority of this plot revolves around Knuckles, it's just told from different points of veiw. I'll try to update more often, this is fun!**

**ladyamalphia: Oh boy. That was quite a read. Sonicliveson was right, you do write excellent reveiws! :) I will get on fixing some of the past/present tense issues soon, and yeah, the whole summary thing makes decent sense. But It's true, Summaries and I don't get along. So I guess help would be greatly appreciated :P**

**RadRed08: Hurrah for Depth, no? :) I'm glad you think this story has depth .-. I try, I really do xD**

**Anyway. You people get onto reading, I'll get onto getting rid of my cold and writing s'more. Enjoy! :D**

**Toodles**

* * *

**Shadow the Hedgehog**

I paced impatiently, silently walking across the room then turning on my heel and walking back across it. Why I was so restless I did not know. I still had that ache in the back of my skull and I suppose I feared it would get worse. A white bat bent over a large computer console, her fingers flying expertly over the keyboard. The monitor flashed with images and texts, words I wouldn't bother to read unless I had to

"Are you sure this is the right place?" she asked, not even turning from the computer. I nodded briskly, though she wouldn't see it

"Almost certain." I replied firmly. We were located in an old abandoned G.U.N. research outpost, deep in the woods. I had heard rumors that one of the scientists sabotaged the experiment they were working on here and caused the people inside to flee. However, the true version of the story was unheard of, and I believed it to lie within the files of this computer.

"Well, I can't find anything, just a whole bunch of statistics and graphs and all that." She said as she stood tall, stretching her arms above her head. "It looks like everyone just packed up and left after they failed the experiment." She bent back down and began to search again.

"Keep looking." I told her anyway, I was near certain I would find what I was looking for on that computer.

"There's nothing more on here!" she said without looking back.

"There is."

"Hey, I have a question" she said suddenly, turning around and narrowing her eyes at me. The screen filled with text, but she didn't seem to care. I flicked my ear and raised an eyebrow at the bat.

"Go ahead"

"Can you perhaps try a sentence that involves more than just two words?" She put her hands on her hips and shot an annoyed glare at me. My attention, however, was claimed by the scrolling text on the screen. I pushed by her, only to earn an angry scoff from the bat. I proceeded to the screen, narrowing my eyes

"Interesting…"

"That's only one word, come on!" the bat said as she walked up to stand beside me, skimming over the file she'd 'accidentally' opened. "A journal entry?" she wondered aloud. I ignored her as I read "I wonder how I didn't see that…"

_**Keivan Tropp**_

_**Research Facility for the Study of Mobians**_

_**Scientist logs.** _

_August 23__rd__, _

_There are so many suspicions going on about the new scientist. I can't say I disagree though. He obviously knows nothing about his field of biology. I don't believe he has a degree, it seems phony, I've never heard of the Greater University of Nyin. Come to think of it, even our supervisor hadn't heard from it. But apparently the 'boss man' says he's to be supervising us for a while, before he joins in the field. I don't trust him; he's always so emotionless and doesn't pay attention to us, just __**him.**__ I don't think he's here for the same reasons we are. But it's not my place to go pointing fingers; I'm just going to do my work and try to ignore him._

_August 28__th__,_

_Alright, something is definitely not right about this new 'Dr. Schrader'. He seems way too interested in Specimen 1. Someone started a rumor he was a 'government spy' but no, the government supports our cause. I know I'm not the only one with my suspicions, I just hope we clear everything up with him. He gives me the creeps._

_September 3__rd_

_I don't have much time. Schrader is wiping the systems as I write. Turns out he wasn't with the government, but he wasn't with us, either. G.U.N. somehow found out about Specimen 1, I don't think it'll be too long before the soldiers arrive. There's no hope for it now, we've had to ditch the project and evacuate. Something went wrong, something Schrader did. It's like its entire molecular structure is collapsing on itself, but there's nothing we can do now. We'll have to leave it here and get as far away from this place as possible. Whoever manages to find these last few entries, just know that while Specimen 1 has an extremely unstable molecular structure, it's uncertain what af_

**Request Terminated.**

I narrowed my eyes at the screen, Rouge was apparently still reading. I turned away from the desk, scanning the room. Papers had been thrown about everywhere, there were bullet holes lining the walls and some of the other desks. I pretended not to notice the dried blood stains around the room.

"Wow…" Rouge turned away from the computer. "That's a lot to take in…" I could hear her shuffling through some papers on the desk, but I did not turn to look at her "Did you manage to make sense of that?" she asked as she once again walked across the room, her pace was slow and her mind still seemed to be 'digesting' the information.

"Somewhat" I replied. The bat turned, I could hear an edge of annoyance in her voice.

"What did I say about using more words?" she stepped in front of me, once again forcing me to look her in the eye. I sighed, letting my eyelids fall, partially.

"Let's go." I walked right by her, I was almost certain there was nothing more to be found here. And now there was something else that required my attention; the echidna.

"Again with the lack of words! What's eating you? You're usually not this quiet!" She took off of the ground, flying along beside me as I ran through the metallic hallways. I was careful to keep my pace steady, so the bat could keep up until we got outside. I didn't want to lose her in the maze of corridors, and then have her nag at me until I came to get her out.

We burst out into the sunlight, which suddenly seemed blinding. I lifted my hand to shade my eyes as I slowed my pace. The sun beat down on my fur. We must've spent more time in there then I had presumed, for when we had entered the sun was just beginning to sink into the west, now it was back in the east. Time seemed to have passed us by.

_How Ironic…_His voice was there again, nothing more than a whisper that sounded in the back of my head, making my ears itch. I attempted to ignore it, and peered into the greenery with interest, wondering where to begin my search for the echidna.

…_Fate…_ The voice was getting louder. It felt as if there was an ice cold grip on the back of my head, but I ignored it. I would not let my guard down, especially with Rouge around. I needed to get rid of her and address this problem on my own.

"We should split up" I suggested. "We need to find Knuckles as soon as possible." The bat smirked at me; it only took me a moment to realize it was because I'd used more than two words in a sentence. I scoffed and rolled my eyes, turning away to begin a slow walk into the forest

"Whatever, call me if you find anything"

"Likewise" I took off into the forest as Rouge leapt into the sky. I increased my speed, keeping my mind on my goal; finding the echidna. Trees whizzed by me as I instinctively wove through the forest, I was all too unprepared for the voice in my head to suddenly decide to get louder.

…_Can be…_ A sudden sharp pain arched once more through my skull, I held my head with my hands as I ran. The pain intensified and I shut my eyes, stumbling over a root and falling to the ground. I ignored the pain as I rolled onto my back, still holding my head. I opened my eyes to look to the sky. What little light that flickered through the canopy above seemed blinding and burned my eyes. I shut them tightly, entangling my fingers into my quills.

_Did you really think you were rid of me? _The voice hissed, seemingly very close to my ear, as if it had its own being. I knew that this was impossible...he was dead, was he not? I rolled over, facing the cool earth below

"I'd kind of hoped that" I mumbled to myself, pushing myself to my knees despite the sharp pain that still seemed to be vibrating my skull.

_Foolish hedgehog…You should know I do not die easily._ I grunted, holding my head with one hand as I rose to my feet. I slowly began to stumble through the forest, using the occasional tree for support when I felt dizzy. _I need you to do something for me._

"Not going to happen" I said aloud, removing my hand and beginning a slow jog through the greenery.

_On the contrary…_ As soon as I'd let my guard down, the pain returned. I once again fell to my knees, hunched over with my head cradled in my hands. I growled, I did not enjoy this feeling of weakness…And he knew it.

_You will do whatever I ask of you…If you wish for the pain to stop…_ I growled again, louder this time. The pain only intensified. Gritting my teeth, I managed to respond.

"Stop…" The pain did stop upon my request, and I relaxed gratefully. I remained on my knees, holding myself up with my hands, facing the ground.

_So, my little Shadow, what will it be?_

"…What is it you want me to do?"


	6. Dopleganger

**Please, please, please, please, please forgive me for the crapness that is this chapter D: It's that kind of chapter that you don't really want to do, but you have to because if you didn't the whole story would collapse on itself. I'm pretty okay with it up until the transtition between our two hedgies. So please, bear with me. The next one will be better I promise.**

**I guess on the bright side, you get to see more of our antagonist :) I do like him, my friend and I had a good time trying to design him sepcifically for this story. **

**So yeah, I'll do better next chapter, I promise.**

**Toodles**

**Sonic the Hedgehog**

"Sonic?" I awoke with a start; only to have the wall I was leaning against vanish. The caused me to fall hard on my back. I was somewhat surprised to have wide blue eye stare down at me

"Oh, hey Tails" I said, pulling myself into a sitting position. I noticed I hadn't been leaning on a wall; I was leaning on Tails' door. I also noticed that I must've drifted off into sleep at one point in the night.

"Were you out here all night?" The fox asked as I stood. I yawned and stretched my arms above my head.

"Seems that way"

"Sonic, have you never had a nightmare before?" I flashed the fox a look and only chuckled. I turned and headed down the stairs, hoping there was food in my future. The fox followed me hurriedly. "They're not real, you know."

"I know." I flipped on the light as we entered the kitchen. Tails found himself a chair at the table while I headed straight for the fridge.

"What was it about?" He asked, cocking his head to once side in curiosity.

"Uhh…" I pulled the jug of Orange juice from the door. "I guess Knuckles has been giving me the creeps lately." I grabbed a glass from the cupboard.

"Knuckles? Why?"

"It's a long story. Want some toast, lil' bro?" A brief nod resulted in me adding an extra two slices of bread into the toaster. I turned and leant on the counter while I waited.

"Well, we have a while, don't we?" His two tails were swaying excitedly in his seat, brushing against the floor. I shrugged

"Knuckles seems to think that I was the one who broke the Master Emerald."

"Were you?"

"Of course not! But he attacked me yesterday, not his usual pointless attacks, though." With a pop, the toast was done. I grabbed two slices out of the air and threw them onto a plate. I noticed they were completely black. I grabbed the other pair from the machine and placed them on a new plate. These were the ones I handed to Tails, I kept the burnt ones. They didn't taste very good, but they hit the spot.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean it was one of those 'I'm going to kill you now' type attacks." Tails nodded as he reached into the center of the table for the butter.

"Oh. So you had a nightmare about it?"

"No, it just kind of freaked me out." I countered, now finished scarfing down one piece of burnt toast. I started on the next.

"Okay. So what are you going to do?" I grinned through a mouthful of burnt toast.

"I'm going to go find Knuckle-head and figure out what's really going on, see if I can clear stuff up with him."

"Right now? You just got up!"

"All the more reason to leave!" I wasn't exactly sure how much sense that made in our conversation, and I guessed it didn't make much, as Tails was giving me a puzzled look. Perfect. I left him to puzzle over my conversational skills as I chugged the glass of juice. With a hurried wave to the young fox, I bolted out into the living room and through the door.

The City buildings were nothing but a blur as I ran by. I whipped my head from side to side, searching for the blob of red fur in the blur of the city. No luck. I zipped around a corner and sped up.

"Sonic!" Up ahead was a pink hedgehog, waving at me cheerfully from the doors of an apartment building. I skidded to a halt in the middle of the street, earning some angry honks from the car drivers in that particular lane.

"Hey Amy! Can't talk today, have you seen Knuckles?" The girl shook her head and lifted her shoulders apologetically. "Oh well, thanks anyway!" I didn't wait for a reply, but shot forward. My ears stung from the driver's repetitive honking. I had every right to go stomp on his windshield. But no, I had better things to do.

I stopped on the sidewalk of an intersection, gazing down each street, still looking for any sign of the Echidna. I almost jumped at the high-pitched shriek of a girl, followed by a black blur whizzing by. I turned my head to the girl, who was screaming simply because her dress had flown up from the black blur's speed. I grinned; I had a feeling that if I didn't find Knuckles, at least I could say I found someone today. With out another thought I sped off after him. A few moments later and I could see him.

He glided effortlessly across the ground on those strange shoes of his, eyes dead ahead. It made me wonder if he could go as fast without them. I shrugged and sped up; he turned his head slightly as I ran beside him.

"Hey Shadow, long time no see!" The hedgehog grunted and moved forward, I was about to do the same but the other hedgehog cut in front of me, speeding up. "Oh that was cold." I weaved into oncoming traffic, earning several more angry honks. I leapt over some cars and darted out of the way of others. Eventually, I'd worked my way back up to Shadow's side.

As soon as Shadow spotted me once again, he braked hard and darted onto another street, picking up speed once again. I wasn't expecting this, and went flying by him and the street he'd escaped to. I grinded my feet against the ground to stop, nearly running into a parked mini-van. The driver inside looked up at me, startled. I grinned and wave, then shot back down the street, taking the same turn my black counterpart had moments before.

It wasn't long before I spotted him again and was able to match his pace. His red-eyed gaze moved to me for nothing more than a heartbeat, otherwise he ignored me. I spoke again

"What're you doing up at this time of day? I thought you were more nocturnal." I grinned, hoping to get a rise out of him. I admit I was disappointed when I didn't. The black hedgehog simply grunted and pulled ahead of me again. "Alright…Don't want to talk? Okay, I can work around that…"

I slowed down a little, just enough to let Shadow think I'd fallen behind from being unable to keep up with him. With a grin, I shot forward at twice the speed I was traveling. I whizzed by the black hedgehog, the force of wind I had created knocking him off balance. I heard him growl as I sped by.

"Sorry Shads but I can't go this slow forever!" I called back to him. I turned my attention to where I was running, and waited. Sure enough, moments later the black hedgehog was speeding along side me. I knew one thing for certain; Shadow would never settle for being left in _my_ dust.

"Now this is more like it!" I sped up further, causing him to do the same. It was now a race. Where exactly said race ended we weren't quite sure. I had a sudden thought and grinned. Well, it was clear I wasn't going to find Knuckles here. Our ruckus would've drawn his attention. I had another place in mind to visit, though. I knew also exactly how I could humiliate Shadow. I'd be killing two birds with one stone, and I do love doing that. I spotted a street to my left, some ways ahead, and sped up.

Shadow moved to keep pace with me, and I allowed him to pull ahead slightly. As soon as he moved to cut me off, I darted to the left. I did the same thing he did to me; changing my path the moment he thought he had the upper hand. I ran on, expecting to see him at my side once again. I looked back; there was no sign of the hedgehog. Maybe he'd given up? It didn't seem likely.

I shrugged and sped up. I figured I might as well take care of my Knuckles problem before I did anything else, like aggravate a certain black hedgehog. I changed my course once again and launched into a Sonic Boom

I jogged up the steps to the Master Emerald. At the top, there was no sign of my hot-head friend. The shattered remains of the giant gem were still here though…I was surprised Knuckles hadn't fixed it yet.

"He's too busy with his homicidal thoughts to worry about this old thing" I commented as I looked down at what few shreds of emerald lay in front of me. I had been almost certain I would find him here. I was kind of degrading to know I didn't. "I'm surprised he's not here…" I said aloud, to myself. I wasn't expecting a reply.

"I'm surprised it took you so long to get here." I spun around, expecting to see a pair of red eyes. I was more surprised to see nothing. I knew that voice, it belong to Shadow. I cast my gaze back to the broken remains of the Emerald. But where…? I turned back,

"Oh god!" I fell back on my hands, panting heavily. Shadow had unexpectedly dropped in front of me, a confident smirk on his face. He seemed to enjoy scaring me shitless, I didn't know why. "I swear, next time you do that I'll have a heart attack."

"I'll keep that in mind" He walked around me as I jumped back to my feet, looking down at the empty pedestal.

"Does it not alarm you how little has been done to repair this?" he asked, his voice level. He didn't look at me as he spoke; he kept his eyes fixed on the spot where the Master emerald usually stood.

"What, the Master Emerald?" He gave me an odd look; something told me that was an incredibly stupid question.

"I would've thought your friend Knuckles would have restored the emerald by now" He gazed at me quizzically, as if he expected some sort of reply. When he didn't get one, he asked a clearer question. "Where is Knuckles?"

"Uhh. No Idea, I was actually looking for him. But I found you instead" My answer came out rushed. Why was Shadow suddenly so interested in Knuckles? Since when did it matter to him? I decided to ask him these questions, instead of babbling to myself. "What's it to you?" The hedgehog gave me another odd look and then turned his back to me.

"The fox is looking for you." He said quite suddenly. Tails? Uh oh, I could only imagine what kind of trouble the young fox could get into, especially with a homicidal Echidna on the loose.

"Uhh. Thanks I think." I still had so many questions for the dark hedgehog; I looked back at him, wondering if Tails could wait a few moments.

"He said it was Urgent"

* * *

**Shadow the Hedgehog**

I watched with contempt as Sonic sped away, nothing more than a blue blur. I'd felt as if the hedgehog would never leave. He obviously wasn't supplying me with the answers I sought. I turned my back to the Master Emerald. I knew it would not take long for the answers I wanted to come to me; it was only a matter of time.

As if on cue, there were several loud taps as someone jogged up the steps to the Master Emerald. I turned, facing the culprit. I was somewhat surprised to see Sonic's startled face

"I-I didn't expect you to be here…" He said, I opened my mouth to ridicule the hedgehog, but he continued before I could get a word in edgewise "Listen, I know I'm not going fast enough, but it's hard to do that 'hunting' kind of thing." I came to the conclusion this was not who I thought it was, and simply stood in thought and allowed the Sonic look-alike to continue "I just need a day or two more; I think I know where it is." He gave me a strange look, seemingly puzzled that I hadn't spoken yet.

After a long stare, his eyes widened significantly.

"Oh. Damnit. You're not who I think you are, are you?" I stepped towards the hedgehog, my presence seeming to have a repelling effect on him as he stepped back.

"And you don't seem to be who I think you are." I retorted, narrowing my eyes "Who are you? For you're clearly not who you appear to be" Ignoring me, the hedgehog turned and leapt off the shrine, hitting the grass and making a run for it. I rolled my eyes. Had this been Sonic, perhaps I would've been a little more concerned about keeping up with him. However, it was apparent that while this hedgehog may have looked like Sonic, he moved nothing like him. Cutting him off was a simple task that was preformed in seconds.

The blue hedgehog chuckled nervously and backed away from me, now blocking his planned escape path.

"Sorry, but I can't stay." He turned to run in another direction, obviously not expecting me to intercept, as I did.

"You won't leave until I have answers" The hedgehog seemed to shrink under my gaze. His clumsy grin widened as he pointed up at me.

"I'm not supposed to mess with you"

"That is wise of you, but that does not mean I will let you go." The instant those words left my mouth, pain shot through my skull once again. It blinded me as both hands shot up to hold my head. Why was he doing this now? I shut my eyes, as if it made a difference.

"Wait…That means. Ha-ha!" I heard the hedgehog's voice gain confidence. At that point the pain in my mind dulled, I dropped my hands to my sides and growled. I did not expect the punch that flew for my face, and hit its mark exactly. "Guess what, Stripes!" The hedgehog said, grinning wildly "I just figured out that I don't have to hold back. You get to come on a trip with me!"

"Over my dead body." I growled, rubbing the spot on my cheek where his fist had connected to my face.

"Now, Now. Let's not be morbid, no one will be dying here!" With that, he launched another fist at my face. This time, however, I was prepared. I caught the hedgehog's fist in my hand and pulled him forward, bringing my knee into his gut as I pulled. The impact left him breathless and knocked him off his feet. I folded my arms in front of my chest and grunted, expecting more than that from my newfound enemy.

"I expected better of you…" I said quietly, looking down on the blue hedgehog.

"Yeah, so did I. But you know what?!" The hedgehog sprang to his feet; I noticed he was careful to keep his distance from me. "I've never been much for fist fighting, how about we try this my way?"

_His way?_ I narrowed my eyes as the hedgehog stepped back, holding out his arms. The first thing that shocked me was the strange markings that appeared on the blue hedgehog's forehead. I didn't bother examining them closely, however, they seemed insignificant to me.

His fur darkened, changing from the vibrant blue to blackened red. His ears stretched and grew, though his left remained torn off near the base. Dark circles appeared around his eyes, followed by dark markings on his paling muzzle. The most drawing feature of the change was his tail. It grew and writhed, until a wickedly curved blade sprouted from the end, seeming to mark the end of the creature's change. Nothing my dumbfounded face, he sprung forward

"Surprise!" He whirled around, and I became all too acquainted with the blade as it sliced across my chest. I grunted and stumbled back, bringing a hand to my chest. Blood now soaked the white tuft of fur on my chest, and came off on my hand.

"You will regret that"

"Yaadaa Yaadaa Yaadaa! I thought you were the quiet one!" I narrowed my eyes, only to find a fist fly for my face. My free hand reached to intercept. I would not allow myself to be 'sucker punched' by this insult to nature. His tail once again flew around his body, slicing into my wrist and forcing me to let go.

I jumped back as the bladed tail came down for my head. I growled at the creature, who now looked surer of himself. I could feel the blood draining from my chest, and the newly placed wound on my arm stung with such pain. It was clear that if I intended to defeat this oddity, I would have to stay away from his tail.

My uninjured hand darted to my quills, my natural defense for my most treasured possession. I pulled out the red gem that resided there, holding it tightly in one hand. The creature's smug grin vanished.

"Hey, I know this is really bold for me to ask you this. But seeing as it's our first meeting and all, you should give me a present! I know what I want!" he sprung forward, tail poised and ready to strike. It was my turn to smirk.

"Not in this lifetime." He gripped the emerald tighter, calling upon its powers with practiced ease

_Chaos Control._ The creature slowed to a halt in mid-air. I now had the upper hand, and would use it as I pleased. I leapt high into the air, curling up into a ball and stiffening my spines. I brought my weight down hard on the creature's back as time resumed itself.

We slammed into the ground, I was cushioned by his body, but he was sandwiched between the solid earth and my spines. He writhed in pain.

"Oww. You're prickly." I noted his tail was snaking upwards again, I imagine he wished to puncture me until I removed myself from him. I uncurled from my defensive ball and jumped off my target as his tail sliced through open air. I saw my chance. I dashed forward and grabbed the tail as soon as it had finished its strike. Careful to keep the blade well away from my body, I dragged the creature along the ground, only to spin and throw him over my head.

He slammed into the ground, ensuring me that I could win this fight. Keeping his tail in a firm grip, I launched him towards the shrine. He collided solidly with the stone walls and clattered to the floor. I smirked, brushing myself off and dismissing the creature as a threat no more.

My victory was cut short quite suddenly, as the humbling pain in my head brought me to my knees. I had forgotten about that, and it was clear that he intended to exploit that to his advantage. The heap that was the creature shifted, noting my sudden drop. He watched, I could tell he knew more about this than I did.

_My apologies for my brashness, but you and I need to have a talk._ The voice seemed to deafen me as the pain intensified. I breathed in sharply and winced, before collapsing on the ground in exhaustion. It was only then that I noticed how much blood splattered the field, not my enemy's, but my own. The deep gash in my chest was still bleeding heavily, already beginning to form a puddle where I lay. The pain of the gash seemed to dull as I shut my eyes, toning everything and everyone out involuntarily


	7. Open Doors

**Hai folks. I seemed to have lost some reveiwers. But hey, I'm cool with it :D I'm glad You like the story so much, Midnight. It's great to have support :)**

**So, onto the chapter. It's got some happy feelings and several hints as to what's going on, and we have another big antagonist spill out onto the scene. IU can't help it that I love him so! Finally, a villian that is not afraid to kill folks! :)**

**Anyway, read and enjoy. Reveiw too. See you next chapter.**

**Toodles**

**Miles 'Tails' Prower**

My eyes drifted open, greeted with a sun-lit filled room. I smiled; waking up like this usually meant there was a good day ahead. I rolled out of bed and stretched, rubbing the sleep from my eyes as I headed to the door. I was glad to see that when I opened it, no hedgehog came tumbling through. I silent shuffled down the hall and peered into that certain hedgehog's room, his door left open.

The blue hero was sprawled over his bed, his covers hanging off onto the ground. Soft snores filled the room, and I grinned. At least he was sleeping.

As I started my way down the stairs, I couldn't help but to notice how little Sonic was sleeping. Knuckles hadn't turned up for a while, and the Master Emerald was no more repaired than it was the night it shattered. Along with Knuckles, no one had seen Shadow for the past three days. Rouge had come over, hoping to find either of them here. Upon finding none, she promptly collapsed.

She'd been searching for Shadow for days, ever since he dropped out of the communication line. She hadn't slept and had barely eaten in that time, and finally realizing her efforts to find the ebony hedgehog were futile, her body finally broke down.

She was now sleeping in the extra room I kept for Knuckles, on the rare occasion he showed up. It was my last guest bedroom; if more people started showing up…Someone might end up on the couch.

I moved into the kitchen, having a strange craving for eggs, which I started on immediately. The silence gave me a lot of time to think as I prepared our scrambled eggs breakfast, making sure to prepare more than I needed, as I knew I had two other guests.

Knuckles going missing every once in a while is expected. He usually vanishes for days at a time, on some quest for something or other; usually to repair the Master Emerald. But he always checked in, just so we wouldn't worry. This time, the sacred emerald was still in pieces on the pedestal. I knew this would have negative effects on the planet if this went on long enough.

It didn't help my thoughts that Knuckles had reportedly gone 'Berserk'. If the one person who could properly re-assemble the Master Emerald was in a frenzy of rage, what did that mean for us? There was a soft rap at the door. I turned off the stove and yawned again, before jogging out to meet my visitor.

As I opened the door, I came face-to-face with the bright-eyed, wide smiling Amy Rose. She waved cheerfully at me as she spoke

"Hiya Tails, everyone still sleeping?" I nodded in reply

"Yeah, Sonic and Rouge are still asleep, but you can come in anyway." I stepped aside to let the pink hedgehog enter. I shut the door behind her and we moved into the kitchen.

"Is Rouge feeling better?" she asked, taking a seat at the table. I shoveled the scrambled eggs into a large bowl. I shrugged.

"I don't know, but I'm worried about her." I admitted "She usually hangs around with Knuckles or Shadow, now that both of them are missing; I guess she's a little distraught." I grabbed a glass and filled it up with cold water from the fridge. I offered it to Amy out of courtesy. She gratefully accepted.

"I'm sure she'll be fine. Any sign of either of them?"

"No, but Sonic and I plan to go looking today."

"Can I come?" I nodded as I filled a bowl with my breakfast. I sat at the table. "Help yourself if you'd like some" I said, but she shook her head and smiled,

"I've already eaten. But can I come with you when you two go out to look?" I shrugged

"I guess it's really up to Sonic"

"Who is fine with it" I turned at the new voice. Sonic walked contently into the kitchen, a wide grin on his face. "Sweet, Breakfast!" He grabbed the large bowl I'd put the scrambled eggs in and wondered over to the drawer to get a fork. He began eating hurriedly.

"Save some for Rouge!" I said, concerned as the hedgehog shoved another forkful into his mouth. He nodded and swallowed, making me wonder if he was chewing his food at all.

"Don't sweat it, lil' bro." He burped loudly, putting a hand over his stomach "I just want to get going, I won't eat it all." As if to convince me this was true, he threw the fork into the sink and set the bowl onto the counter.

"So…you're okay with Amy tagging along?" He nodded as he stretched out his legs.

"We can cover more ground with more people, right?" The cyan hedgehog began to jog impatiently on the spot. "Besides, you know she would come anyway, even if I'd said no." Amy chuckled at this, her cheeks reddening.

"No I wouldn't" she said, attempting to sound innocent. Sonic only had to give her a disbelieving look before her face reddened again. She covered face with her hands, as if to hide the fact that she was blushing.

"Alright, so when do we leave?" I stood up, pushing my bowl of unfinished eggs away. Watching Sonic scarf down his breakfast made me lose my appetite. Amy jumped to her feet, caught up in the sudden rush of excitement.

"Now is as good as any time as ever!"

"But what about Rouge?" Amy put it, once again concerned for her friend.

"She's a big girl, Ames, she can take care of herself" Sonic waved off the hedgehog's concerns with a hand, flashing the girl one of his world-famous grins. "Now let's go!" With that, he tore through the kitchen and I spun to follow, only to hear a loud **thump** by the door. I rushed into the living room, where Sonic was in the process of losing his balance.

"What happened?" I asked as the hedgehog struggled to find his feet again. He grabbed the doorknob and wrenched the door open.

"Forgot the door was closed, now let's go!" I heard Amy burst out in laughter as the cobalt hedgehog shot through the now opened door. He was long gone by the time Amy and I were out onto the street. Amy was still chuckling as we started at a steady jog down the street.

Her laughter was contagious, and filled me with such excitement that I wasn't used to experiencing so early in the morning. I grinned, suddenly wide awake.

"Come on, Amy!" I said, beginning to spin my Tails, lifting off the ground. "Let's search from the sky!" I flew up and over her head, grabbing her wrists as I flew by, lifting her into the air. We laughed together, no longer at the Hedgehog's clumsiness, but at the sheer adrenaline we got from taking off into the air. We were well ready for the long day ahead of us, and weather or not our searches were successful, we would enjoy it.

* * *

**Shadow the Hedgehog**

"_Shazzzttt."_ My vision was obscured by pure darkness; my senses seemed dulled way too far from their usual alert state. This discomforted me, and only added to my unease from being unable to move. "_zzzzadow!"_

My head throbbed with such pain, which only intensified at the muffled noise that pierced my thoughts every few moments.

"Shazzzt…come zzzzzzt! Plezzzzt" My eyes opened slowly at first, giving my vision time to focus on the metallic ceiling above me. I could hear whispers…clearer…not like the first voice at all. The first voice was faint and feminine, constantly interrupted by fizzing noises. The other voices where more masculine and were hushed. Of course, as I stirred, they became alert.

"Shazzzztdow!" I heard a solid smash, then silence. No more interference could be heard. There was a long silence and I used this time to shut my eyes slowly. The voices had stopped. I wasn't sure if they were watching me or not, but I would rather they think I was still unconscious than awake.

"Pathetic" I heard a familiar voice ring loudly through the room. I did not move, hoping that the voice was addressing the second voice I'd hear before

"What is?" I heard someone ask. The question was first answered with silence and I got the strange feeling I was being watched.

"Nothing, Go check on Red."

"But wh-"

"I can handle him. Go." the voice was commanding and cold, and I knew it all too well. The rush of footsteps followed by the sound of a door slamming told me there was only one other person remaining in the room. I remained still through the silence, hearing the soft clink of footsteps on metal as the being drew near me.

"You're not fooling me. I know you're awake." My eyes shot open at this. There was no point in remaining motionless if he already knew I was well aware of my surroundings by now. I took a moment to fully take in the room I was kept in.

It was a nothing more than a metallic box, dimly lit by a dying bulb above my head. I was in the center of the room, sitting on some sort of table. Ahead of me and against the wall was a long line of shelves. Otherwise the room was empty. My attention was now called to the owner of the cold voice. I was not surprised to find it was exactly whom I thought it would be.

Mephiles was standing several paces away from the table I sat upon, grinning wildly, his cold eyes fixed entirely on me. His deep green gaze was the only thing that stood out in the shadows that consumed the room.

"Good morning, my little Shadow" I had been painfully correct on who exactly the voice plaguing my thoughts had been. What I couldn't understand is how, or why, he had been lurking around in the back of my mind for so long… Only to be standing in front of me with a body of his own. I noticed though, he did not look so much like me as he once did.

The shade had become a completely black, ears tipped in a metallic silver. His style of quills was not so much different, if not slightly longer far more ruffled than my own. He also seemed to have acquired a wardrobe of his own. He wore nothing more than a black trench coat, accompanied with a pair of white gloves and simple black shoes. His gaze however, pierced me as hard as ever.

"I trust you slept well?" He asked as his grin widened, showing off his pointed fangs. I narrowed my eyes at him and hopped off the table, after finding that I was not held by restraints. "As talkative as ever…" He said, stepping closer. I smoothly moved aside, circling the dark hedgehog cautiously. The shattered remains of my communicator lay on the counter, but that was not what I was searching for.

"I took it, by the way." He said aloud. He didn't move, but flicked his gaze sideways to me. "Your emerald." I spun to face him "So don't bother looking for it."

"Where is it?" I demanded. It seemed as if my voice perked some motion into the hedgehog, for he turned to face me, arms hung limply at his sides.

"Safe" He replied. I narrowed my eyes further, frowning. I launched straight into my next question.

"How are you here?" The hedgehog threw back his head and laughed darkly at my words.

"What?" He snapped his gaze back to me. "Wondering how I'm alive? How I've been lurking around in your head after all this time? Why it is that I am able to speak to you now when figuratively, I should have never been created?" He managed to ask himself the very same questions I had for him. I communicated my answer through an emotionless expression, which he seemed to have no problem deciphering.

"It is simple, really. As soon as you managed to defeat me, I knew no good would come from it. While you were trapped in the time rift created by Iblis, I used that to my advantage. I traveled back through time, and fused myself with your mind when you were first created…" He paused to chuckle at his own memories, "So a part of me…was with you the whole time…that is why you were able to remember the past timeline's results, because I was the one reminding you of it."

"If you are nothing more than a memory, how are you able to stand before me?" I didn't bother contemplating what he said, I simply launched into my next question.

"Your Chaos emerald, actually" He said, folding his arms behind his back and taking a step towards me. I narrowed my eyes the closer he got. "I was able to use its energy to draw myself a new body, with your help, of course." I gazed at him quizzically, slowly inching towards the door.

"Yes…the chaos energy that flows naturally through you…" He eyed the gold cuffs around my wrists loathefully. "I was able to harness some of that and assist, all I needed was a point where you were unconscious, and someone to activate the powers of the Chaos emerald for me." I allowed the hedgehog to monologue, though it bothered me to hear his voice ramble on smugly. He didn't seem to notice how close I'd gotten to the door.

"And that is what that…Sonic clone…was used for, correct?" I asked, keeping my crimson gaze on the shade.

"Sonic clone? Far from it. You had the right Idea the first time you came here," My ear flicked at his words, so this was the same place Rouge and I had found out the information about the Mobian project. "It's not a Sonic Clone, but some lost soul with a poor molecular structure, making shape shifting an easy task…With the right help" he said, lifting a hand. Deep purple sparks flew from his relaxed hand. Seeing as he was distracted by his own powers, I shot for the door. I opened automatically, as I'd assumed it would. I got as far as part way down the hall before I skidded to a halt. The black mist thaws was Mephiles re-appeared before me.

"I was expecting that, believe it or not" He said, grinning wildly "While you may be fast on your feet, Little Shadow, you cannot hope to compare with my power." He reached forward, grabbing me by the throat. The violet electricity spiraled from his hand and into my body, causing me to twitch uncontrollably. I was not, however, about to let him underestimate me. My foot flew forward, straight into his gut. He dropped me, rather suddenly. I did not hesitate; I kicked him solidly in the face. He fell back on his hands and I leapt over him as he burst into a black and purple mist.

* * *

**Mephiles the Dark**

"Why did you let him go?" I slowly came back together, taking on a solid shape and watching as Shadow streaked down the hall. I grinned at my deep red companion, who was giving me a puzzled look.

"Simple, as much as I enjoy his company, I have no need for him anymore" I explained, turning back to the now empty hall. I'd give it about thirty seconds before Shadow either found his way out, or made one of his own. But he'd sooner figure out that I wasn't perusing him.

"So you're just going to let him go…What about Red?" He asked as I turned and began to head down the hall in the opposite direction as Shadow had.

"We keep Red here." I ordered "After all, you'd be far too easy to figure out without him" He nodded briskly, showing he understood. "Now come. There is much that needs to be done."

"But what of Sonic and his gang? Will Shadow tell them of us?"

"No. He will keep this to himself."

"How can you be so sure?" I turned and began a rapid decent into the underground part of the former research base.

"Because I've spent the last year and a half in the back of his mind, incase you've forgotten. I know how he thinks." We entered the cool underground, and the smell of dried blood wafted into my nose. I smiled, that scent usually meant pain, something I enjoyed inflicting.

"So what now?" He asked as he entered the room where the stench was emitting. I fixed my gaze on the figure chained to the wall, my muzzle stretching to a grin.

"I think I will wake our friend and take him for a walk" I said, I turned to my hybrid companion and spoke again "You see what you can do to about Sonic and his friends…"


	8. Night Sky

**ARG. DARN ADVERTISEMENTS. They plague my mouse and then my mouse wants to click the advertisement. Then the advertisement runs away with my documents and I get sad D: See? Sadface. ):**

**Sorry this took a while, haven't uploaded due to busyness. So I'ma gonna stop talking, as I am angry at Fanfiction right now D:**

**Toodles**

When I awoke, the sun was beginning to set in the west. The room was dark, as the window faced the east. I didn't mind at all. I got up and stretched my wings as far out as they would go, before folding them behind my back again. I slipped on my boots and gloves, and then moved to the door.

My hearing already told me there was no one in the house. It was far too silent. I scratched at my ear as I descended the steps, turning into the kitchen once I'd reached the bottom. A bowl of cold scrambled eggs lay on the center of the table. The smell was repulsive, but at least now I knew Tails and Sonic were not here, and had left sometime in the morning.

I was not hungry. I could go days without food, and I wasn't as starved as Tails seemed to think I was. I headed towards the door, wanting to get out and start searching again. I took a glance at my wrist communicator as I stepped outside. Maybe he would answer now? I thought I'd better give it a shot.

"Shadow?" I said. "Shadow!" I listened, only to ear silence on the other end. If he was there, he was ignoring me. I tried again "Shadow, come in! Please!" Silence. I cursed quietly, taking into the sky. I noticed how lovely the sunset was, blanketing the sky in beautiful shades of orange and red. "Shadow!" I called, only to hear a loud click emit from my communicator.

"The nerve!" That sound meant the other line had been closed, but at least now I was confident he was okay. After all, if he had the ability to turn off his communicator, he couldn't be too bad. I lowered my arm and turned to face the city, looking down into the streets. I might as well start my search. Maybe I could still find Knuckles. Shadow could take care of himself, I was sure. Knuckles was a different thing entirely and while his strength and endurance was admirable, I was well aware that he was not the brightest of the bunch.

I flew along the city skyline, looking down into the streets for the occasional flash of red. My eyes caught sight of a pink and yellow blob in the streets, and I narrowed my eyes. Not what I was looking for, I'll admit, but maybe they knew something.

I swooped lower, coming closer to the city streets, but still well above them. It was indeed Amy and Tails, just as I'd thought. They were walking together along the sidewalk, looking tired. I was about to land when something else caught my eye. It was nothing more than flash of red fur against darkness.

I let out a screech of echolocation, the world re-painting itself silver in my minds eye. Knuckles was crouched in the alley just before the exhausted duo, his fists were clenched and I noted they were unusually large and pointed. Could he be wearing his digging claws? But why? He couldn't dig through stone, could he? But then the thought dawned on me, those claws were awfully sharp, and I knew they could be used to a far more violent act than digging.

"Lookout!" I called as they neared the alley. They froze and lifted their heads; they didn't even see how the echidna slipped from behind the alley and lunged at Tails. I sighed and dove towards them.

I collided solidly with the echidna before he could dig his claws into the young Fox. The two turned in surprise to see Knuckles and I go tumbling across the concrete. I spread my wings and struggled to get airborne again. I felt a hand grab by ankle as I began to leave the ground, which dragged me back to the earth.

"Knuckles, let go!" I turned around and launched my other foot into his face; he stumbled back and released his hold. Well, he'd started a fight now, I wasn't about to back down. I landed in front of Amy and Tails, who both called my name in surprise

"Rouge!" I waved to them, but kept my gaze solidly on the echidna, who was wiping the blood from his mouth.

"Darn bat." I heard him mutter.

"What's gotten into you?!" I demanded, flaring my wings and shooting him a glare. He returned the glare and growled. "I knew what you were going to do. Tails is your friend, for god's sake!" He cracked his knuckles in reply, and lunged forward.

I ducked to avoid the bladed fist that flew over my head. I wasted no time in swiping a kick for the echidna's feet. It was something I did often, and I was expecting the echidna to jump. I was almost disappointed to see him hit the dirt, but he wasn't out for the count just yet.

He rolled backwards, jumping to his feet and lunging for me again. I swerved aside to avoid the fist, only to be hit solidly in the stomach by his other. I went flying backwards, but despite the pain of the blow, I used this to my advantage. I spread my wings and twisted in mid-air, beating them hard and taking into the sky. I heard him growl behind me.

I ignored the echidna's growl and landed on a rooftop overlooking the street we stood in. The humans had long since fled, Amy and Tails had wisely put some distance between them and the berserk echidna. Amy whispered something to Tails, who nodded and took to they sky, most likely to get help. It looked as if I had to play the role of hero for now.

Tails' sudden flight caught Knuckles' attention, for he turned and spotted the girlish hedgehog who had told him to leave. She blinked and waved nervously, and he responded by charging at her. He narrowly missed her as he dove aside, I knew he wouldn't make the same mistake again; I dove off the building and spread my wings.

As Knuckles went to bash in Amy's face with his fist, I grabbed her arms and soared into the air, carrying her with me. This time, he wasn't about to let us get away. I was planning to return to the rooftop, but I quickly spotted the echidna scaling the wall to it. I stopped in mid-air and went to turn.

"Look out!" I heard Amy scream as she wrenched one of her hands from my grip. I turned, only to see the echidna push off the building and go flying towards us. I cringed, expecting to be hit. There was a solid crunch, but I was surprised to find it wasn't me who made it.

Knuckles clattered to the ground and Amy grinned triumphantly. I noted she had her gigantic hammer in hand, so maybe she wasn't entirely deadweight. We landed on a different roof this time, but that didn't stop him from climbing up to get us.

"Stay here, kid" I warned Amy, before diving off the rooftop and throwing myself at the Echidna. We both went tumbling toward the ground. I grabbed his shoulders and moved him to he was the first to hit the concrete, as soon as he did, I rolled off of him.

He grabbed my ankle again as I moved away from him. I hadn't expected him to recover to quickly, for a moment later I was smashed into the ground, just as he had. The world began to spin as my head smashed solidly off the ground; I gripped me head solidly, feeling sick.

In my confusion, I could see the echidna pull his fist back, and I shut my eyes tightly. When no blow came, I lifted my head and did my best to ignore the pain.

"Take that, Knucklehead!" A triumphant voice rang through the deserted street. Sonic stood, a few feet away from where Knuckles now lay, an indent in the wall above him. "You know better than to hit a lady!" I stood slowly, still holding my head.

"Thank you Sonic, but I think I could've handled him."

"Uh-huh. Like I haven't heard that before" I narrowed my eyes at his remark, but I had to admit, I was grateful he came when he did. As the echidna picked himself off the ground, Sonic wasted no time in bashing the Echidna back into the wall. He rolled away from the hedgehog and jumped to his feet, spinning and launching a fist at the cyan Mobian.

Sonic grabbed his fist as it flew towards him, pulling on its owner and spinning to gain momentum. He would let go of the echidna's fist at a well-timed moment, so the echidna went flying into the wall again. When he stood, there was blood dripping down a large wound on his head.

"Sonic, don't you think you're being a little harsh?" I called warningly, as the hedgehog grabbed the echidna by the throat and flinging him into the concrete. I couldn't help but to notice his face was now covered in blood.

"No, Not at all!" He said cheerfully as the Echidna attempted to rise again. His legs gave out from underneath him and he collapsed to the ground. He was a bloody, red heap in the middle of the street. Sonic slowly walked up to him. "He deserves every bit of this!" He lifted his foot, planning to bring it down on his neck.

"Don't you dare, Hedgehog!" I snarled, leaping off the ground and dashing at Sonic. I spun and brought my foot into his gut, sending him back a few feet. "I think he's got the message." Sonic wheezed a little, holding his stomach.

"Rouge, he tried to kill me!" He retorted. I snorted at him, landing between the echidna and the hedgehog.

"So that makes it okay for you to kill him? Come on, Sonic, you're the last person I should have to lecture about the value of life!" I gestured to the bleeding mass behind me. "He's taken enough damage as it is. I'm sure Knuckles will explain…"

"Rouge. That is not Knuckles." The voice that rang through the empty street was not Sonic's. Nor did it belong to Amy or Tails, who was watching from the sidewalk behind Sonic. I lifted my head, finding the owner of the voice standing on the rooftops above, arms folded over his chest.

"Shadow?" At the mention of his name, the dark hedgehog leapt off the building, landing in front of a startled Sonic. I pressed on. "How is this not Knuckles?" I motioned again to the fallen figure behind me. "He's obviously not a robot. Besides, where have you been the past three days?" The dark hedgehog narrowed his eyes, but I didn't stop. He should know by now that his gaze doesn't affect me like it may others. "You vanished, didn't respond to any of my calls, didn't tell me where you'd gotten off to and now you appear out of no where telling me that this Echidna and mind you, there is only one of them. Is not Knuckles?"

"Do you believe me?" He asked icily, taking a few steps forward. I glared at him.

"Obviously not!" I met him step for step, until I stopped right in front of him, glaring into his red eyes. He seemed somewhat…amused. He walked right by me and up to the echidna, who was struggling to push himself to his feet. Shadow bent down, grabbing the echidna by his throat and lifting him into the air.

"Where is he?" he said darkly, glaring up at the injured Knuckles, who kicked his legs defiantly. Shadow's arm tensed as he tightened his grip. The echidna's eyes flashed, one going blue, the other yellow. "Don't make me ask again." I stared at the two, trying to make sense of it all. One part of me wanted to defend Knuckles, but another part was telling me to wait. I listened to the latter.

"Shadow, what on earth is going on?" In a flash of blue, Sonic was at his counterpart's side. Shadow didn't seem to care, for he did nothing more than growl. Knuckles finally found his voice, though it was high-pitched and begged for air.

"L-Let g-go." Shadow's ear flicked at the echidna's words.

"Will you answer my question?" he demanded coldly.

"Y-Yes." With that, the echidna clattered to the floor, but was not given time to rest. Shadow knocked the echidna onto his back with his foot, keeping it pressed on Knuckles' chest to prevent him from getting back up.

"First, Change back" He snarled. I looked at him quizzically, but slowly moved to stand beside the hedgehog. I looked down at Knuckles, confused. His now mis-coloured gaze pleaded wordlessly to me to help. I didn't say or do anything, but I watched. I watched as Shadow applied more pressure to the echidna's chest. "Do it."

The first thing to change was the fur colour, from the vibrant red to a darker shade; his gloves vanished and replaced with black fur. Large ears grew from the echidna's head, the left one seemed completely ripped off, but the right was large, intact and somewhat resembled mine.

His dreadlocks shrunk and sharpened to short, messy quills that eventually led up to strange markings on his forehead. Dark rings appeared around his eyes, the same coloured markings appearing on his paling muzzle. His tail thickened and grew, a sharp-looking blade forming on the end of the lengthened tail. By now, Amy and Tails had gathered around what had once been Knuckles.

This new figure was equally as bloody, the wound still visible on his forehead. Shadow seemed to be the only one who was not shocked by his change. He pressed harder on the being's chest, causing him to wheeze.

"Tell them your name" He commanded. I didn't think the creature would resist at this point, for I knew Shadow would not be merciful on him if he did.

"T-T-Truth." He gave a wheezy cough, and Shadow lightened his press no the creature's chest.

"Answer my question"

"I-I don't know" Truth stumbled, still breathless and bloody. I couldn't help but to feel pity for him, even if he had attacked us. I stole a glance to the others, to see their reaction.

Tails seemed utterly fascinated, his jaw dropped and gaze wide. His namesake twitched every once in a while, showing restlessness and excitement. The pink hedgehog at his side seemed somewhat disgusted, her expression showed it all. She had both hands on her stomach and was hunched over slightly. I presumed it to be at the sight of the blood gathering in a puddle beneath the fallen one.

Sonic seemed somewhat triumphant. His hands were on his hips and there was a big grin on his face. He looked relieved and I wondered why. No one seemed to want to speak, or interrupt Shadow. He had a strange brutality about him that wasn't quite…normal.

"Do not lie"

"I'm not" Truth seemed to be getting his voice back, for he spoke with in a stronger, more defiant tone. "Believe me, I'd tell you if I knew. I don't want to die."

"Hmph." Shadow resumed his interrogation.

"Where is Knuckles?" His question interested me especially.

"I don't know." Shadow narrowed his eyes further, pressing his foot hard into Truth's chest.

"Where is Knuckles?" he repeated. This time, he gave a slightly more honest answer,

"I-T don't know…I w-was told to l-leave after y-you d-did. H-he said h-he was g-going to take him for a 'w-walk'" Shadow removed his foot and turned around, beginning to walk way. I followed. Sonic finally spoke up, calling after us.

"Wait, where are you going?" Shadow said nothing, but leapt up to the rooftop he'd first appeared on. I flew up after him, turning back to the blue hedgehog

"I don't know anymore than you Sonic," I said as Shadow began to dash away "But I'll find out and I'll find Knuckles." I turned to follow

"But what are we supposed to do with him?" Sonic looked back to Truth, who was trying to sit up. Amy stood behind him, hammer at the ready.

"I don't know, figure something out!" I hurried after Shadow, knowing that if I stayed too long, I would lose track of him again. I soared high into the night sky, the sun having set long ago. I spotted Shadow by the light his shoes gave off when he ran. He was already further than I thought he'd be. I beat my wings hard and took off after him.


	9. Shadow Fall

**Raaaawr. I live! - I'm glad I finally got this chapter up. I leave on saturday to go to boston ) I won't be able to write until wednesday. It took me a while to finish this, simply cause I've been so busy.**

**Yes, this chapter lets you know how our echidna friend is doing (Not so great, but you didn't hear that from me) and there is more villiany and monologues. Did you know Monologuing is not a word? O: Perposterous, I know. Plus, there's more Truth-y goodness in here somewhere. I do love him, scitzo-boy :)**

**Anyway, Read, Reveiw and Enjoy! See you next chapter! :D**

* * *

**Shadow the Hedgehog**

"Echidnas are an amazing race, don't you think?" His voice was laden with smug contempt. I climbed the stone steps slowly. He hadn't been hard to find, in fact I would not be surprised if he was waiting for me. He had been in the first place I'd looked, the Emerald Shrine. However, he didn't seem all too alarmed at my presence.

"Where is he?" I directed my question to the over-confident shade, who was hovering above the shattered remains of the Master Emerald. Although, once my foot hit the top step, my question was answered. Lying in a broken and bloody mass at the foot of the Master Emerald was the formerly missing Echidna. Mephiles saw the expression of disgust on my face at the red creature's wounded state and chuckled.

"He put up quite a fight, I didn't want to kill him, yet he kept coming at me." The shade said, examining his claws passively. I examined the echidna closely from where I stood; somewhat relieved to see the slow rise and fall of his chest. At least he was still alive. "He refused to assist me in any way to put this thing back together" The shade waved a hand below him, signifying the 'thing' to be the shattered emerald.

"What're you planning?" I wasn't about to listen to the shade monologue to himself, I had questions of my own that needed answers

"Well, aren't you a seasoned conversationalist." He commented dryly. "I take it Truth is dead, or nearly there by now, if you had the bravery to seek me out while he was still out and about." I narrowed my eyes at him as he lowered himself down, drifting forward so he landed in front of the Echidna.

"Not dead, but he will be if you don't answer my question" My threat earned an outburst of laughter from Mephiles. Dark, cold laughter that was all too familiar to me.

"Do you think I give a damn if he is killed?" He began to slowly make his way towards me "Honestly, Shadow, I'd think you to know me better." My eyes narrowed further as the hedgehog stopped, midway between Knuckles and I. "He is nothing more than a tool, something to keep your hero friends busy while I go about and do what needs to be done."

"And that is…?" I hoped he would finish my sentence, but he only chuckled again and shook his head slowly, his toxic green gaze fixed on me.

"Ah, so that's it" he said, sounding genuinely interested "The only reason you haven't attacked me yet is because you hope my monologue will tell you everything you need to know. Shadow, I'm hurt. I thought you enjoyed my company." At that, I knew I would find out no more through negotiation. Upon second thought, I really should've known better than to try.

I lunged at him, my hand curling into a fist and flying for the shade's face. I did not have my emerald, so Chaos Control was not an option for me. He however, did not seem phased by my sudden attack and simply exploded into a dark mist upon contact with my fist. I growled as the mist drifted backwards and then took on a solid shape once more. This time, Mephiles had taken on his crystalline shape, though his laughter still rung about the shrine.

"Ah, Shadow, I have long awaited this moment" He said, spreading his arms and lifting slowly into the air. "You are more than aware that you alone cannot defeat me" I clenched my teeth and let out another feral growl, taking a step back and widening my stance.

"You seem confident" I retorted, narrowing my eyes.

"And you seem to forget, Shadow, I can travel through time. Your future is no secret to me" He chuckled darkly. I had forgotten that detail. "Long have I waited for the time which I can fully extract my revenge on you…Without your meddling comrades interfering, or an emerald to call to your aid." A large purple sphere appeared in his right hand, completely engulfing it, sparking with energy. "No, my little Shadow, It's just you and me. It's time to see exactly how powerful you are"

* * *

**Rouge the Bat**

I cringed as the red and black hedgehog rolled down the steps of the shrine, landing awkwardly on the grass. The hedgehog had many wounds, most of them bleeding, now deepened by his tumble down the stone steps. It took every ounce of self control not to fly out there and help him, but I knew he'd be furious if I interfered. For now, I forced myself to watch.

His attacker followed, floating down effortlessly to Shadow, who was now pushing himself to his knees, blood dripping from his mouth.

"Really Shadow, I must say I'm disappointed in you." The crystal hedgehog touched down softly in front of the wounded one, a wild look in his eyes. I stopped myself from taking him out myself, and for now I strained to listen.

Shadow had put up a fight for just over an hour, and mid-way between that hour, he slipped up and took beating after beating. The moon was now high in the sky, and while I was sure the hedgehogs had no trouble seeing each other in the darkness, I doubt they could see me; hiding in the shade of a tree, hanging from one of the highest branches.

My eyesight and hearing was not hindered by the darkness, and I could see the events unfolding before my eyes as if they were occurring in the clear of day.

"I expected you to be harder to defeat, even without the help of others or an emerald" The strange hedgehog delivered a solid kick to Shadow's stomach, sending him rolling across the grass. Shadow however, seemed determined to stay in the fight. He slowly pushed himself to his feet, though his wounds were clearly visible and blood dripped freshly from them.

The dark violet creature crossed his arms over his chest, as if mocking the bloody hedgehog. I couldn't help but to think I'd seen him somewhere before, but where exactly I could not place. I was almost surprised to hear the dark hedgehog's voice speak out.

"This is far from a 'fair fight'" he growled, holding onto a large gash that had been carved into his arm. As soon as the hedgehog had fully gotten to his feet, he was knocked back down by a wicked punch to the gut. Shadow rolled across the ground again, coming to a stop a few feet away from the mysterious hedgehog.

"Well, let's try not to be a hypocrite, Shadow. We both know you've never fought 'fair'." This earned another feral growl from the wounded one, who was pushing himself to his knees once again. The crystalline hedgehog burst into a cloud of black mist, only to re-solidify in front of the ebony being, a hand gripping at his neck tightly, causing him to choke.

"M-Mephiles" Shadow stuttered, reaching up in an attempt to pry the fingers away from his windpipe, to no avail. Now I knew the creature's name. I knew I'd heard it before, but I couldn't quite place where.

"Oh come now, Shadow, this is far too easy." Instead of lifting the dark hedgehog off his feet, Mephiles spun and dragged Shadow along the grass by his throat; much like a young girl would do with an oversized doll. Shadow still grabbed at the other hedgehog's hands in a desperate attempt to free himself, but I knew he was too physically exerted to pull it off. I winced as he was dragged up the stone steps. As Mephiles reached the top steps, I dropped off the tree and kept low tot eh ground, quickly fluttering into the shadows of the building, to better hear their conversation.

There was a muffled thump; I assumed it to be Mephiles throwing Shadow aside, and then the eerie hedgehog's voice again.

"Don't worry, my little Shadow, I won't kill you…Yet" He chuckled darkly as the wounded hedgehog coughed. "No, you're going to stay where I can find you, and you're going to endure that beating every day for the rest of your pitiful life…Until I get tired of you, that is." There was another growl, but I wasn't sure from whom. "Perfect revenge in my eyes, an eternity of suffering…"

"Don't count on it working" was the harsh reply. There was the sound of footsteps. I cast my gaze upwards and tucked my wings behind my back, pressing up against the shrine wall. Mephiles was standing on the ledge, looking out over the field.

"You live on such a beautiful planet Shadow, I'm surprised you're not grateful I'm not going to kill you" The hedgehog chuckled; I prayed to go he wouldn't look down, for he surely would've spotted me. "But you will live to watch this planet burn…" there was a wild glow in the shade's eyes, one that terrified me. "You will live to hear the dying scream of every one of your friends, and every man, woman and child on this pitiful planet…Human and Mobian alike…shall crumble beneath my power" the hedgehog chuckled darkly and spun.

There was strange shuffling noises that followed, and a loud growl of protest. I suddenly could not hold on any longer, I spread my wings and took off into the sky, turning around just in time to see Mephiles activate the power in a red chaos emerald, one foot over an injured red echidna and gripping Shadow's neck tightly, pulling him off the ground

"Chaos Control!" In a brilliant flash of light, the three being were gone. My eyes widened and I scanned the ground for any sign of the trio that had stood there seconds before.

"Damnit!" I cursed under my breath, I knew the effects of Chaos control all too well. I knew I wouldn't find them anytime soon. But…there was still the matter of Sonic to deal with, and that 'thing' called Truth. I quickly dove towards the ground to pick up speed and then shot off for the city, hoping to make it there by morning.

* * *

**Sonic the Hedgehog**

I yawned, my head nearly sliding off my hand and onto the table. I'd been here for hours. The hybrid was sitting on the other side of the kitchen; he was bound by ropes, tied securely to a kitchen chair. We'd never really had the issue of taking prisoners before, so we were at a loss with what to do with this one. Though Tails had taken the precaution of bolting the creature's tail to the ground, as it seemed to be the most damaging part of him.

We hadn't bothered covering his wounds; we didn't really see a need to. He simply sat there, glaring at me. He looked rather exhausted, but so was I. I'd spent the remainder of the night up watching him, to ensure he didn't try to get away. Most of the night had been spent glaring at each other. I nearly jumped out of my skin when he spoke.

"I'm hungry. Feed me." It was spoken in a demanding voice, yet there was a childish hint to it. Very confusing. I raised an eyebrow at the creature and shook my head, leaning back in my chair.

"Not a chance, dude. You're not a guest here" I glanced at the clock, nearly 8:00. When I glanced back, Tails was coming through the kitchen doorway, careful to keep his distance from 'Truth'. I'd told him to go get some sleep; I didn't want him staying up all night with this thing.

"Hi Sonic" The kitsune said, smiling somewhat as he sat in the chair beside me, not taking his wide eyes off of the hybrid, who stuck his tongue out at the young fox defiantly.

"Hey Tails," I said. "Sleep well?" The fox shrugged.

"As well as I could with him around" His voice was hushed, and he averted his gaze from the deep red being.

"Hey, Guy, I can hear you just fine." the creature snorted, rolling his mismatched eyes.

"That's just peachy" I said sarcastically. Tails stood up and began to start on a breakfast. I just then realized how hungry I was as my stomach growled. The creature's right ear flicked and he grinned.

"So, I'm not the only one who's hungry" He licked a pointed fang and I narrowed my eyes at him, hoping to get a warning across.

"Yeah, but you're not eating"

"I'm not?"

"Dude, you tried to kill me and my friends, you can live with no breakfast"

"Ewww." Tails' sudden outburst caused me to turn my head. He slammed the fridge door shut and gagged.

"What's up?" I asked as he stumbled away from the fridge

"The fridge stopped working at some point, something smells repulsive in there." He plugged his nose, emphasizing his point. I frowned.

"Well, I guess I could run out and grab something for brekky." I cast a weary glance to Truth. "But I don't want to leave you alone with him"

"I can handle it!" His eyes lit up at the task, I knew he being trusted to watch the 'prisoner' would be a great honor for him, but I still felt uneasy. "Pleeeaassee?" He begged. "Besides, you're the fastest hedgehog around!" There was a mischievous glint in his eyes "Surely it would only take you a matter of minutes to run out and grab breakfast." The stroking of my ego won him the prize. I grinned

"Alright, kiddo, you win." I said after a dramatic pause. I began to head towards the door, stopping in front of the creature and growling a quiet warning. "You hurt a hair on his head, buddy, and I swear, you won't live to see tomorrow" With that, I shot into the living room. This time, I remembered to open the door before I ran out, leaving a waving Tails behind me.

**_-Insert amazing breakfast fetching journey here-_**

When I returned, the house was quiet.

"Tails?" I set the bags of groceries down beside the door; I wasn't quite sure where they went. But my bigger concern was the silence, my young friend hadn't responded to my calls. I was hesitant to go into the kitchen. As I stood at the large doorway and looked ahead, my mouth dropped. I'd only gone for about seven minutes, and all this had happened? Chairs had been thrown askew, the table was snapped in half and the pieces lying on opposite sides of the room. In the very center of the room was my fox friend, his hands bound roughly by rope. I dashed forward, noting that he was bruised and had several deep gashes; I was relieved that he wasn't bleeding.

"S…Sonic?" He called weakly, looking up to greet me. Tears began to prick in the corner of his eyes "S-Sorry Sonic…I-I couldn't s-stop him." I shushed him with a hand, and began to work at untying the ropes around his hands. He looked up at me, his face drained of emotion. At this, I froze.

"Tails, where is Truth?"

"I-I don't k-know…He l-left." I stood up straight, leaving the binds on his hands for now. I couldn't help the feeling of suspicion that had suddenly surfaced. Was this really my little buddy? Truth did have the ability to shape shift, I knew this. But to what extent?

"How do I know you're Tails?" I asked slowly, and his jaw dropped. He held up his hands, as if encouraging me to undo them. "No, Tails, you'd understand that I need to be sure, first." I said sternly, causing him to frown. The tears that had gathered in the corners of his eyes intensified and they rolled slowly down his cheeks, accompanied by soft sobs.

"S-Sonic…h-help" He pleaded quietly. I took a step back. Half of me wanted to rush forward, unbind the fox and cheer him up. I hated seeing my kid brother cry, but at the threat I knew he could pose, I was cautious.

"Tails…" I said slowly, "What'd we have for breakfast yesterday?" It wasn't the best question I could think of, but it would at least ensure this Tails was the real deal.

"I-I d-don't remember" he said, shaking his head and crying further. Despite the fact that he hadn't been able to answer the question, those tears still urged me forward.

"Who stayed with us last night?" I received a similar answer, a shake of the head. The tears stopped. "Do you remember who came to visit yesterday?" There was further silence; the kitsune lowered his head slowly. There was no way he could have forgotten all that, but I waited for an answer.

"Ugh. You hedgehogs just aren't as gullible as you used to be." The fox stood up, I was almost shocked he could do that in his physical conditions. He pulled his hands apart, and the rope broke under the strain. Tails lowered his hands to his sides.

"Tails?" I asked slowly,

"Well obviously not." He replied "Good god, do you have a rock for a brain?" He wrinkled his nose in disgust. Although I knew this wasn't my two tailed companion, it was strange to hear those words come from his mouth.

"Where is Tails?" I instantly thought about my true little buddy, and what this imposter had done with him.

"Safe…ish." I flew at him, curling into a ball. He dove aside and I crashed into the living room, but was back on my feet in a matter of seconds. "That did a whole lot of good."

"Shut up, where is he?" I demanded again. The fox grew in height, his fur darkening. I knew what was happening, and only seconds later did the creature's tail scrape along the ground. Truth flashed me a fanged grin.

"Like I said, he's safe-ish."

"Safe-ish? That's not an answer." I dove aside to avoid the blade on the end of his tail, which had flown at me.

"I beg to differ." I narrowly missed the strike a second time, the bladed end of his tail grazing my shoulder. I noted this trait was familiar with scorpions. This also told me how his tail, if no other part of him, could keep up with me. But I was faster. His tail dug into the wall, another failed attempt at hitting me. It became temporarily lodged; this gave me the chance I needed.

"Surprise!" I pounced on the creature, using my weight to pin him to the ground. His tail was still stuck into the wall, so he fell awkwardly and landed on his stomach. I grinned triumphantly. "Now, where's my friend?"

"I ate him" He giggled as my face froze. Ate him?

"You'd better be joking" I moved my hands to his throat.

"I am. You take things way to seriously" He said, his grin widening. His right ear flicked as I tightened my grip, causing him to wheeze.

"Seriously, you don't tell me where he is, and I swear I'll kill you."

"Why does everyone cling to my neck?" He said. His voice was strained "You want to know where your friend is?" I lifted him off the ground slightly and then quickly pushed him back down, hitting his head off the floor.

"Yes!"

"Well, he's right behind you." I twisted around, releasing the creature from grip. Instead of seeing the fox, as I'd hoped, I came face-to-face with the razor sharp blade that tipped the creature's tail.


	10. Help Wanted

**'Sup Homies? :D**

**Boston was fun, but now I'm back! And with a new chapter! NEVER FEAR, THE CRIMSON AVENGER WILL SAVE ALL. You'll get it, just go read. Thanks for constantly reveiwing you...errr...two. Your support is really appreicated**

**But hey, I estimate a good 5-6 chapters before the end, depends on how long they are and where appropiate cut off times are :D So anyway, read and enjoy, and review. I like reveiws.**

**Phwoar!**

* * *

**Sonic the Hedgehog**

"Don't move." His voice was smug, now that his tail millimeters away from my face, he'd realized he'd had the upper hand. "Wait, on second thought…get off of me." I tensed, which only caused the blade to drift forward and prod at my forehead. I did not need to be told again. I scrambled off him, the blade never straying away from my face.

"So…Uhh." I was at a loss for what to say. I was aware that my life, or at least the condition of my face, was on the line here. One wrong move or word could result in facial disfiguration, or worse.

"So, how's life?" The question completely caught me off guard and I wasn't quite sure if he was being serious or not, he certainly sounded it.

"Right now? It could be better."

"Oh, Bummer." He said as his tail tip prodded at my forehead again. I narrowed my eyes

"So what exactly are you going to do?" I asked slowly, keeping my eyes fixed on Truth's tail.

"Haven't gotten that far" He admitted. I suddenly found it hard to believe this guy was a murderer. While he looked no younger than me, he acted like a nine year old.

"You might want to think your plans through before trying anything like this" In a flash, my foot shot upwards, kicking the creature's tail away from me. This move gave me enough time to dart away as the bladed tail came down on where I was a second ago.

Truth spun around and launched a fist at my face as I charged at him, but compared to me his actions were slow and weak. I curled into a ball and rammed the hybrid, sending him flying backwards.

"Where is Tails?" I demanded as he rose to his feet, brushing the dust and debris from his body.

"What makes you think I'm gonna tell you?" He asked, grinning wildly. I dashed forward, too fast for him to track this time. He was sent flying into the kitchen counter.

"That might have helped you make up your mind" I said. I was done with his games; after all, he might've hurt Tails. I wanted to know where my two-tailed friend was.

"Alright, Alright!" Truth began to push himself to his feet, using the counter he'd fallen off of as a brace. "He's upstairs, hall closet" I didn't wait for anything else, I rocketed up the stairs and was standing in front of the closet door no more than a second later.

"Mommmmph!" I suppose that was supposed to be my name, but the young fox was bound, mouth taped shut by a thick piece of Duct tape. His blue eyes were wide with happiness at the sight of me. I pulled him out of the closet and slowly pulled the tape from his mouth

"Ow…" He said and then his eyes widened again "Sonic! You're okay!" I nodded and began to untie the rope that pinned his hands to his sides. "I'm sorry I let Truth get me. I stepped out for a second and then he'd turned into you and said that he'd escaped, so I let him go and then he attacked me and I couldn't get free and he tied me up and then he dragged me up the stairs and I'm sor-"

"Whoa, Tails, Breathe." I said, cutting the kitsune off. "It's okay, 'lil buddy. You're alright now, that's all that matters" I grinned at him. "Now why don't you and I go give Truth a piece of our minds?" I helped him to his feet as he nodded violently and we headed down the stairs in a rush.

Truth was up on the counter, one leg up and standing on his tip toe, the way a grown woman might upon seeing a mouse or spider.

"She's going to eat meee!" He wailed, pointing down at a rather angry looking bat. I hadn't heard her come in, and was rather surprised to see her.

"Rouge?" She turned at the sound of her name and smiled at me. As Truth began to inch away from the white bat, she whirled and bared her fangs at the hybrid, who cringed and whimpered.

"What a coward…" She said as she turned her back on the creature again. This comment earned a childish response; the hybrid stuck out his tongue and pouted.

"What're you doing here?" I asked while keeping a weary eye on Truth as he slowly sat down on the counter. The bat's smug grin suddenly vanished, replaced with a concerned frown.

"Shadow is in trouble. There's some new hedgehog around- at least I think that's what he was – named Mephiles. He's got Knuckles too. He kept rambling about taking revenge and destroying Mobius." The name brought back a sudden wave of memories. I blinked in attempt to clear my head as my vision blurred.

The sudden image of a short-haired girl in a white dress appeared in my head. I couldn't place her name, but she smiled at me and ran off along a grassy hill. I watched as the hill suddenly burst into flames, burning the girl along with most of the formerly green hill. A shadow appeared to be emerging from the flames, slowly making it's way to where I stood. The flames danced around him, reflecting off his crystal-like quills and limbs. He had no mouth, but his eyes gave away his wild and unpredictable mood. The sickly green eyes stared my down, seeming to be looking through me, rather than at me. Rouge's voice broke the strange vision "Mephiles defeated Shadow and disappeared with him and Knuckles." The bat went on; she seemed unaware of the short memory trip I just took.

"Wait, so...What?" I asked, rubbing my head.

"Did you say Mephiles?" There was a whimper from Truth as he spoke. We ignored him for now.

"I need your help, I think I know where they might've gone, but I can't take him on my own." Rouge admitted as she kicked at the ground sheepishly. I turned my attention to Truth

"Sure, we'll help you…" I said to Rouge, although I wasn't looking at her. Truth was now standing. He had a giant grin on his face, and his next words were very surprising, especially since I'd just finished beating the pulp out of him minutes before

"I wanna help too!"

* * *

**Shadow the Hedgehog**

Once again, I found myself regaining consciousness slowly. My senses were coming back to me, primarily my sense of smell and my hearing. After a moment's pause, I was able to feel that I was lying on my stomach. The floor was not smooth, and was unusually cold. I assumed I was in some sort of stone room.

I lifted my head and opened my eyes. My vision was blurry and I shook my head some to clear it.

"Welcome back to the world, Shadow!" A black pair of boots greeted my sight, causing me to growl. "Hostile as ever." My entire body ached as I made an effort to push myself to my feet; I only made it as far as my knees.

"Where…?" I held my head, feeling dizzy. I sat back on my heels and looked around, ignoring the shade directly ahead of me. It was hard to speak and the feeling of weakness was not helping in the least.

"I can't really take you back to where we were before; your bat friend knows to look there." Upon the mention of bat, the name clicked into my head.

"Rouge?" I mumbled

"Yes." The shade responded, turning around and pacing across the room. "We're in some makeshift cave in the middle of the jungle." He informed me, gesturing to the stone walls. "It seemed as good a place as ever to stay, for now." Now that I could see better, I cast my gaze around the cave.

My eyes fell on the one thing that stood out from the dark walls. A furry red corpse was in a heap at one side of the cavern, battered and bloody. I instantly remembered who he was. Turning my attention back to Mephiles, I noted he was no longer in his crystalline form and once again appeared to be nothing more than a normal, dark hedgehog.

"What did you do to Knuckles?" The ability to speak was slowly coming back to me and earned a grin from the hedgehog as I questioned him. I then noticed that unlike his previous form, Mephiles now had possession of a mouth. I do not know why this detail stood out at me; I blamed it on my current state of mind.

"What does it look like?" He asked, moving over to the pre-mentioned echidna. He kicked the red bundle of fur gently. It did not move. "He put up a fight when I asked him to perform a simple task. You can see how it ended" Mephiles grinned, turning back to me.

"Is he dead?" I questioned, unable to tell from where I sat. Mephiles shrugged and paced back across the cave. I took the silence as time to push myself to my feet. I stumbled at first, nearly falling back to the ground. I managed to hold my balance as I made my way across the cave, using one wall for support. I then noticed that the only way in or out of this particular cavern was a large hole at the top. I tucked this information away for future use.

"So, Shadow. Now that you're up and about, what do you think about this becoming your temporary home?" The shade drifted calmly across the cave, almost effortlessly. He stooped right in front of me, the wild grin still on his face.

"No thanks." I muttered, refusing to meet his gaze. I kept my crimson eyes fixed on the ground.

"Too bad for you then." He said smugly. "Or, if you'd prefer, I can make sure you end up like him." He jerked his head back to indicate who he was talking about.

"End up like whom?" The voice that spoke did not belong to me. I came from the center of the cavern. It was low and had a venomous hint to it. I lifted my gaze, looking past Mephiles (who had whirled around at the new voice to pierce the darkness) only to smirk slightly.

Knuckles the echidna stood in the center of the room, fists clenched tightly, his violet gaze filled with hatred and directed at the dumbfounded shade before me.

"Y-You're alive?" The hedgehog stuttered as the echidna let out a feral growl.

"I was never dead." He retorted, taking a step forward. Despite being covered in his own blood and obviously still quite wounded, the angered echidna looked like a force to be reckoned with.

"No matter." The shade jerked his head, as if ridding the feeling of surprise from his system. "I defeated you once, I can do it again."

"Try me" was Knuckles' instant reply. "I've been impersonated by your freak of a friend, my Master Emerald shattered to pieces, defeated twice within three days and now I wake up to find I'm being kept in an unfamiliar place?" he rambled "I am quite ready for revenge" Knuckles batted his fists together, which provoked the hedgehog into flying at him. I would've loved to help, but I was currently in a state where walking took an extreme amount of energy.

Knuckles' fist collided solidly with the shade's face, knocking him back several feet. Mephiles growled as he stopped himself from falling back further. He clenched his fists and held them at his sides as he was engulfed with dark purple energy, changing him back into his crystalline form. He held up a hand, calling fourth a dark orb of chaos energy.

"Foolish Echidna!" he snarled as he launched the condensed form of energy at the red being. I expected it to hit solidly, and was instantly corrected. Knuckles caught the dark orb in one hand and promptly whipped it back to its creator, who wove aside in surprise. I ducked to avoid the mass of energy which dented the wall above my head. "How…How did you do that?"

"I've spent my life guarding the Master emerald, do you think your tiny amount of Chaos Energy is going to effect me when I've been handling greater powers than you can imagine for years?" Mephiles swerved again to avoid the flying fist that had come with that explanation. He was knocked aside by Knuckles' second fist, which closely followed the first.

Mephiles snarled and ducked to avoid yet another punch, which dented the wall behind him. He dove forward, tackling Knuckles to the ground. He jumped back as the echidna picked himself up, only to be blown back by shards of violet crystal that cut through his skin. That didn't stop him though.

"Who are you?" The red being growled as he picked up a rather large boulder and whipped it at his opponent, who was now airborne.

"You shall know me as Mephiles, Mephiles the Dark!" Knuckles dove aside to avoid the crystal shards that backed up the hedgehog's proclamation. The echidna said nothing in response, but flew up at the floating hedgehog, pulling back a fist with a growl.

I let the two bicker, for my attention had been grabbed by a glowing object that had fallen from Mephiles during the battle. I narrowed my eyes and stiffened. A Chaos Emerald. Exactly what I needed. I moved along the wall, as not to alert either of the quarreling two. Retrieving the emerald was not a problem; it was the decision to use it that caused me to hesitate.

I could save myself, by Chaos Controlling away from this infernal cave, or I could aid Knuckles in battle, now that I had the powers of an Emerald at my call. I knew that in my current condition, I would not last long, even with an emerald. But with another looked at the battling Echidna, I knew he could not be better off than I. I narrowed my eyes and made up my mind, gripping the emerald tight in my hands, I lifted it into the air.

"Chaos…" I said loudly, causing Mephiles to spin and growl at me. My distraction caused him to take a solid, spiked fist to the back of the head. The emerald began to glow

"…Control!"


	11. Invisible Sheild

**Hello all :) Here's another chapter for you! I actually proofread this one, so the only major mistakes should just be missed typos and jazz, but let me know if you see something I missed.**

**Nothing much happens here, I'll be honest. No action-y stuff. But hey, we get to see the crimson avenger! :D IT MAKES UP FOR IT. He's so cool and tough and extremely pain tolerant :D Gogogogogogogogo! Read so the next chapters will make sense! :D**

**Tata**

* * *

**Shadow the Hedgehog**

The light that blinded me began to vanish slowly, giving my sight back once more. It took me only seconds to analyze where the Emerald had taken us. I rose to my feet and brushed the dirt from my legs. The red being in front of me groaned and held his head, still lying on the floor.

I had decided to take him with me. I knew the company would not be enjoyed, but I didn't particularly want to leave him with our crystalline foe. Rouge would never forgive me.

"…What happened?" My ears flicked as he spoke, but I chose not to answer. I was sure he'd figure it out eventually. My emerald had transported us into the forest on the outskirts of the city. For a normal Mobian or human, walking there might take about half an hour.

Knuckles pushed himself to his feet while casting his gaze around slowly, taking in his surroundings. I noted how physically damaged he was. I did not point this out to him, however. His head boasted a large, dark bruise and his limbs were cut and scarred to a point where I doubt the vibrant red covering them was his fur. He had one deep scar gouged in his chest and blood dripped slowly from his mouth. I admit that I was impressed he was still alive.

"Where are we?" I assumed I could answer flatly and say we were in a forest. I'm sure that answer would've gotten an angry or snide remark in reply, but I didn't rightly care. It was a second thought that made me reconsider; perhaps it was not where we were in surroundings, but where we were in relation to his home…or even the city?

"About half an hour's walk from Station Square." I replied, careful to keep any emotion from my voice. I didn't like showing signs of emotion. I'd seen it make others weak and would not like to be considered the same.

Knuckles did nothing more than grunt in reply, gently rubbing the large bruise on his head. He winced as he rested his gaze on me. I figured it was more from his suffering than simply the sight of me, but I wouldn't have been surprised if it wasn't.

"In what direction?" This question proved more of a challenge to answer. I cast my gaze to the sky and twitched my ears. I knew this part of the forest well, as the greenery provided an excellent cover for someone who does not wish to be found. I lifted my hand and jerked a thumb behind me.

"That way." Knuckles' gaze focused on the path behind me. There was a short pause between us before he nodded his head and turned around. This action caught me off guard, for he began to walk away from the city he'd requested the whereabouts of. I couldn't help but to voice my curiosity.

"Pardon my brashness" I said quietly "But is that not the opposite direction of the city you asked about?"

"Well, yeah." Knuckles looked over his shoulder and shrugged "But I'm not going to the city. Knowing where it is will help me when I need to go back."

"And where is it you plan to go now?" The echidna took a few steps forward after I'd asked him of his thoughts. He paused at the clearing's edge and turned back again.

"It's been…Well, I don't even know how many days it's been. But the Master Emerald has gone on un-repaired for long enough. Plant and wildlife around the shrine will start dying off soon…if it hasn't already." He rubbed absently against his bruise again, I imagine it must have been bothering him. "It shouldn't take me more than a day or two to find all the shards…" He seemed to be talking to himself more than me. "I can sense it; they haven't gone as far this time." He turned back to face the clearing edge, calling back to me. "Thanks for the save, Shadow. I owe you."

With that, the echidna vanished into the shadows and trunks of the trees beyond the small clearing. I admired his determination and loyalty to his duty, but did not envy him. I turned towards the city. I did not particularly want to return to Rouge at the moment, for I was sure she would have many a question for me to answer. Not to mention the fact that my unease was growing now that I had no idea where Mephiles was, nor the full extent of his plot.

With a sigh, I turned away from the city and headed along a different path. There were things that needed to be done before I returned to my so-called 'friends'. Finding Mephiles was only one of them, closely followed by the fact that I needed to locate more emeralds if I ever hoped to defeat him.

* * *

**Miles "Tails" Prower**

Two days and no sign of either Knuckles or Shadow. It was quite clear that they were their well hidden, or didn't want to be found. It wasn't like Knuckles to sit in captivity quietly. I wasn't so sure about Shadow, as I didn't know him very well…nor did I like the dark hedgehog. I wouldn't ignore him if he was in trouble, that wouldn't be fair. But that didn't mean I had to like him.

Truth insisted that he would help us against Mephiles. I'm not sure if he thought we were dumb or extremely gullible, but we didn't trust him anyway. He'd spent the past two days locked in my basement. To be honest, having him there terrified me. Every once in a while he would freak out and throw himself against the door. While Sonic had taken the precautions of securing it tightly, every time the door shook from the force I nearly jumped out of my skin. It was a miracle Sonic could sleep at all.

Sonic had spent the past few nights at my house. I couldn't say I didn't like the company. Having Sonic around was fun because he always was able to cheer me up, even when I was reminded of the hostile guest in the basement. Truth gave a whole new meaning to the concept of 'The Basement Monster'

"Hey, lil' bro!" The door flew open and in walked the cobalt speedster, a wide grin on his face. Amy followed behind, carrying a brown bag packed full of groceries.

"Hi Tails!" She called as she headed into the kitchen to sort through her edible goods.

"Hi Sonic, Hi Amy!" I said while turning around in my seat and getting up on my knees.

"What's the codeword?" Sonic asked. The grin never left his face. "Sonic is the coolest!" At my response, he patted my head and chuckled. I didn't need to be reminded that while not only stroking his ego, I was assuring him that I was really me. With a shape shifter in residence we could never be too careful. We didn't want to have to repeat the events of a few days ago. When I thought about it, I noticed the codeword wasn't the hardest to guess. It was quite clear that Sonic didn't believe Truth would be able to guess it anyway. After all, he didn't seem to be the brightest of the bunch.

"Anything happen while I was gone?" The hedgehog asked as he plopped down onto the armchair. I spun back around to face him, shaking my head.

"Nope." I swung my legs excitedly as I spoke. Sonic leant back in his chair and closed his eyes with a wide, confident smile on his face.

"Cool."

"Sonic." I said, suddenly finding the guts to voice the question that was on my mind. The hedgehog opened an eye, showing that he was listening. "Uhh…" I hesitated "...About Truth" The second eye opened at this. "…Do you think…Do you think he would actually help us?"

"YEAH, HE WOULD." Both Sonic and I turned our heads at the muffled voice that came from down the hall. I marveled at how well Truth could hear through a solid wood door.

"I'm not sure Tails," Sonic admitted, shrugging his shoulders casually. "But I'd rather not take the chance that he'd turn on us." I couldn't help but to giggle at the muffled 'Awwwww' that sounded from down the hall again.

"Is he for real?" Amy's voice cut into the room as she entered. She must've heard Truth's whining as well, for she sat down beside me; her attention on the hallway.

"No Idea." Sonic's eyes shut again and he lifted his shoulders in a lazy shrug.

"Can I have a light?" Truth was whining from behind the door. "I'm kind of scared of the dark…and the basement. Basements creep me out." I giggled again as Sonic raised an eyebrow.

"This isn't a four star hotel." The blue hedgehog turned his head to stare down the hallway. I suppose we were thinking the same thing. Just what was up with this guy?

"Tell me about it!" Truth must've been bored. I didn't think he'd strike up a conversation like this unless he was. I didn't think it would last long either. There was a loud bang from outside before the door flew open. We all turned our heads.

Rouge stormed through the door, straight past the three of us and into the hall.

"You!" She yelled, wrenching open the basement door. Sonic was on his feet the minute Truth tumbled through and onto the floor. Truth must've been leaning against it, and wasn't expecting it to suddenly open.

"Me?" He lifted his gaze quizzically. It was then that I noticed a heavy black weight was secured tightly to his tail. I didn't know anyone had done that, but I wasn't going to complain. Rouge grabbed his arm and dragged him into the living room.

"Rouge, what are you doing?" Sonic demanded, getting out of the angered bat's way. Truth whimpered as he was thrown onto the chair Sonic had been sitting in moments before. Rouge pointed an accusing finger at the hybrid, who lifted his feet off the floor and curled into a protective ball. He held up his hands to cover his face.

"He knows where Knuckles is!" She accused, eyes narrowed.

"How do you know that?" Amy spoke up. Rouge flicked her cerulean gaze to the pink hedgehog, then back to the cowering Truth.

"Why else would he have been impersonating him all this time? How could he be sure his cover wouldn't have been blown when the real Knuckles showed up?"

"Luck of the draw?" Truth's voice was quiet compared to Rouge's yell.

"Shut up!" she turned back to Sonic "That day when he attacked you, the first day. You have to admit, even Knuckles is not that hot-headed! And he would've beaten you to a pulp if it were the real deal. And that story he gave you, about the shattered emerald? I've got it figured out!"

"Hey, I could've beaten Knuckles!" Sonic said, coming to his own defense. "…But let's hear this 'story'" he said, rolling his eyes. Rouge put her hands on her hips and glared at Truth.

"This imposter," she began, pointing at Truth again as she spoke. The hybrid winced and covered his head again. "Was the 'Sonic' that broke the emerald. I'll buy that much as the truth." Truth peeked out from behind his arms. "He was the one that knocked Knuckles out. I don't know what he did with him, but that story he told was true! He was just telling it from someone else's point of view." I had to admit, Rouge did have a point. Truth wouldn't exactly be lying if he told the story of the emerald from Knuckles' point.

"So, Truth was the one to break the emerald?" Sonic asked.

"Had you not established that already?" Truth piped up, earning an angered glare from both Rouge **and** Sonic. "Oh…I'll just…Y'know…Shut up." Rouge clenched a fist, looking ready to fly at the hybrid. She went on anyway.

"If Truth was pretending to be you that night, Sonic, he would've had to do something with Knuckles…Or he would've…woken up…and gone after you…" Rouge slowed down as she reconsidered her words. She had now made it seem like it actually was Knuckles who'd attacked Sonic. I itched at my head. This was confusing.

"Yeaaahhh…" Truth said rolling his eyes. He lifted his head and pointed at his head, drawing small circles with his finger. Was he calling Rouge crazy? Obviously, he was not following his promise to shut up very well.

"Can it!" Rouge snapped. "I know he did something with Knuckles and I demand to know what!" She turned back to the hybrid who had resumed cowering. Sonic was shaking his head slowly, I wasn't sure he completely understood what Rouge was getting at. Amy was still beside me, sitting in silence while I just stared at the two.

"You could always just ask him." I said, causing both of them to turn to look at me. Even Truth came out of his protective stance and fixed his mismatched gaze on me. I swear he grumbled something about a stupid fox but no one was really paying attention to him, as usual.

"You know, I think I just might." Rouge turned to the now casually sitting Truth and narrowed her eyes "It was you, wasn't it? You've been impersonating Knuckles all this time!" The hybrid's ear perked at her words and he raised an eyebrow.

"Well, yeah. Had you not figured that out already?" His smug tone did nothing to help Rouge's mood. I watched as she inched closer to the chair, which now didn't seem to phase Truth. He simply sat and grinned stupidly up at her.

"Where is he?" She demanded

"I don't kn-" his reply was cut off. Rouge had lifted her foot and brought it down hard on the hybrid's groin. Sonic cringed visibly and I furrowed my brow slightly. That had to hurt.

"Don't start that bullshit" Rouge growled as Truth buckled and rolled off the chair. He hit the ground and curled into a makeshift ball, hands between his legs.

"Oh that was uncalled for" came the high-pitched and strained reply. I noticed that Sonic had taken a subtle step away from the bat.

"Where is Knuckles?" She demanded again, lifting her foot.

"I don't know!" He rolled away as Rouge's foot came down again, but did nothing more but lie on the floor afterwards. "But hear me out" I saw Rouge relax slightly, but not by much. "Mephiles probably has Knuckles and your Shadow friend, there's no doubt about it. But I don't know where…really, he wouldn't tell me. So stop beating me up for telling the truth!"

"Do you know if he has Shadow or not?" Amy asked, lifting her head somewhat as Truth slowly tried to get to his feet.

"No, I haven't seen or contacted Mephiles since that day where I was exposed." He admitted, now using the chair's arm as a brace. He was still slightly hunched over.

"He's lying!" Rouge barked, storming over to the hybrid. Truth yelped loudly and scrambled away, losing his balance and hitting the dirt. As Rouge stormed over to him, he held up his hands and whimpered. His fur darkened in shade, his quills lengthening, causing Rouge to stop in her tracks. Truth didn't.

"Hey…That's…." Sonic said as he peeked around the armchair, noting the creature Truth was instinctively turning into. His tail shrunk to the size of a normal hedgehog's and the weight Sonic had tied to it fell to the floor. His spines thickened and darkened, until his entire being was cloaked in black fur. The last thing to appear were the set of red markings along the being's body. Wide, frightened red eyes looked up at Rouge, silently pleading at her to keep her foot down.

"…Shadow" Rouge's eyes were wide for a moment, before she narrowed them again. Truth pulled himself back and sat himself up, minor changes finishing in a matter of seconds. I had to admit, Truth did look exactly like Shadow. It occurred to me though, that the wide and fear filled eyes did not suit the dark hedgehog at all. "You know what?" Rouge said suddenly, ears perking "I have a job for you"

"Me?" the Shadow-look alike looked even more panicked. Rouge nodded, crouching down and squinting as she stared him in the face.

"Yeah, and we're going to need you to stay looking like that."


End file.
